Otter Spotting

Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, WA,

Designated July 1994 Key species: Tufted Puffin, Bald Eagle, Northern sea otter, California Grey Whale, Bull Kelp, salmon Habitats: rocky headlands, sandy beaches, kelp forests, sea stacks and islands, pelagic or open ocean and submarine canyons

Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, San Francisco Bay, CA:

Area protected: 526 square miles Designated May 1989 Key species: krill, Pacific salmon, rockfish, Humback whale, Blue whale, Dall’s porpoise, albatross, shearwater Habitats: rocky reef, pelagic or open water, soft sediment continental shelf and slope

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, San Francisco Bay, CA:

Area protected: 1,255 square miles Designated January 1981 Key species:  Dungeness crab, California gray whale, Stellar sea lion, Common Murre and Ashy Storm-petrel Habitats: coastal beaches, rocky intertidal, mud and tidal flats, salt marsh, esteros, peagic (open ocean), deep benthos (continental shelf and slope)

Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay, CA:

Area protected: 5,328 square miles Designated: September 1992 Key species:  Southern sea otter, Gray whale, Market squid, Brown Pelican, rockfish and giant kelp Habitats: sandy beaches, rocky shores, kelp forests, submarine canyon, pelagic (open ocean) and wetlands

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Barbara, CA:

Area protected: 1,685 square miles Designated: September 1980 Key Species: California sea lion, Elephant and harbor seals, blue, gray and humpback whales, dolphins, blue shark, Brown Pelican, Western gull and Ashy Storm petrel Habitats: Kelp forests, rocky intertidal, sandy beaches, seagrass meadows, pelagic (open ocean) and deep rocky reefs