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National Marine Sanctuaries are federally designated areas within the United States waters that protect areas of the marine environment with special conservation, recreational, ecological, historical, cultural, archeological, scientific, educational, or aesthetic qualities. The National Marine Sanctuaries Program (NMSP), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), administers to the two national marine sanctuaries in the Gulf of Mexico. These sanctuaries encompass more than 245,000 acres. |