| |
Management
Plan Review 
State of the Sanctuary Report
The Gerry E Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
The
Gerry E Studds Stellwagen
Bank National Marine Sanctuary
The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary stretches between Cape
Ann and Cape Cod at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay and is virtually
the size of the state of Rhode Island. Its boundaries include the submerged
lands of Stellwagen Bank, all of Tillies Bank and Basin, and the southern
portions of Jeffrey's Ledge. The Sanctuary protects 842-square miles
in a topographically diverse area geologists calculate was created some14,000
years ago during retreat of the last Great Ice Age glaciers. Then, Stellwagen
Bank was emergent land and mastodons and wooly mammoth roamed about.
Today, whales swim where mastodons trod, and the Sanctuary has become
home to a wide variety of marine mammals, seabirds, fishes and invertebrates.
Notably, the Sanctuary is recognized as one of the primary feeding grounds
of the highly migratory humpback whale in the North Atlantic. It is
the part-time home of the endangered northern right whale, of which
300 are estimated to survive. Its varied seafloor topography supports
a high diversity of demersal fish species. It is one of only a few
areas in the Gulf of Maine (including Jeffreys Ledge and the Great SouthChannel)
that seasonally aggregate Atlantic bluefin tuna in large numbers. And,
it is an area of exceptionally high primary productivity and production.
With concentration of such great resource diversity and production potential
in one place, the Sanctuary attracts extensive commercial, recreational,
scientific and educational uses. Located in the backyard of an estimated
6 million people living in the greater Boston metropolitan area, it
enjoys tremendous possibilities for education and outreach. And, situated
amidst literally dozens of prestigious research institutions, highly
regarded non-governmental organizations and functionally related state
and federal government agencies, the Sanctuary has exceptional opportunities
for partnership and cooperation.
next section
|
|
