We protect the wildlife, habitats, and cultural resources of one of the most diverse and bountiful marine environments in the world, an area of 3,295 square miles off the northern and central California coast. The waters within Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary are a nationally significant marine ecosystem, and support an abundance of life, including many threatened and endangered species.
As an update to our 2010 Climate Impacts Report, this newly released profile re-assesses key climate-driven impacts to Sanctuary wildlife and habitats, with refined projections. Our latest work on climate change is also highlighted, as well as the critical importance of blue carbon in mitigating impacts.
Storms from the north and west build enormous swells and bring winter squalls. Tendrils of freshwater flow out the Golden Gate, swirling into the gulf, changing its chemistry.
Coastal waters are at their coldest. Gray whales pass near shore en route from Arctic feeding grounds to Mexican breeding grounds, while elephant seals, fattened by months foraging at sea, gather on beaches to enact primal mating and pupping rituals. Seabirds 'prospect' for nesting sites on the Farallones and coastal cliffs. Between storms the air shimmers brilliantly above the frigid ocean surface.
Beach Watch is the National Ocean Service flagship citizen science program, developed in 1993 to document changes along the California coast. With sanctuary biologists, hundreds of specially trained members of the community conduct surveys to monitor the sanctuary shoreline.
Watch this award winning video to learn more (16th Annual San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival, 2019 Citizen Science Award).
With one-third of the Climate Adaptation Plan's strategies focusing on better understanding and managing sediment along the coast as an effective tool for increasing climate resilience, the Sanctuary developed the Coastal Resilience Sediment Plan, a comprehensive and collaborative approach to climate-informed sediment management along the North-central California coast.
Bolinas Lagoon is an internationally recognized tidal estuary with complex habitat types that support a myraid of plant, bird, terrestrial, and marine species. Just 15 miles north of San Francisco, the Lagoon faces current and future environmental challenges from flooding, erosion, and sea level rise, that threaten its surrounding natural and built environments. Learn more about how Greater Farallones and GFA are working together to help this important ecosystem adapt to these changes so that people, plants, and animals can continue to enjoy the beautiful landscape of Bolinas Lagoon.
The ocean takes care of us; let's return the favor. Visit Thank You Ocean.
The Greater Farallones Association (GFA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary habitats and wildlife through the development of a diverse community of informed and active ocean stewards.
Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary