The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is proud to announce the release of the Condition Report 2009 for the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The condition report can be downloaded at: http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/condition.
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is an extremely productive marine area off the west coast of United States in northern California. With its southern-most boundary located 42 miles (68 km) north of San Francisco, the sanctuary is entirely offshore, with the eastern boundary six miles from shore and the western boundary 30 miles (48 km) offshore at the 1000 fathom (1829 m) depth contour. In total, the sanctuary protects an area of 529 square miles (1369 square km). The centerpiece of the sanctuary is Cordell Bank, a four-and-a-half mile (7.2 km) by nine-and-a-half mile (15.2 km) rocky undersea feature located 22 miles (35 km) west of the Point Reyes headlands. The bank sits at the edge of the continental shelf and rises abruptly from the soft sediments of the shelf to within 115 feet (35 m) of the ocean surface.