US Marine Protected Areas Map
An interactive map of the United Statesβ marine protected areas β national marine sanctuaries, marine national monuments, no-take reserves, wildlife refuges and state-managed conservation areas β drawn from NOAAβs official MPA Inventory. Explore the full-screen map above, then scroll for details.
What this map shows
The United States protects a larger area of ocean than any other country. This map plots every site in NOAAβs Marine Protected Areas Inventory as an accurate boundary polygon, colour-coded by protection type, on top of a LatLng vector basemap. Together these sites cover roughly a quarter of US waters, from small coastal state reserves to vast Pacific monuments like PapahΔnaumokuΔkea and the Pacific Remote Islands.
Types of marine protected area
- National Marine Sanctuary β federally protected, multi-use ocean areas managed by NOAA.
- Marine National Monument β large, strongly protected areas designated under the Antiquities Act.
- No-take reserve β all extraction is prohibited; the strictest level of protection.
- Multi-use MPA β sustainable, regulated use is permitted; most US sites fall in this category.
- Wildlife refuge & state reserve β habitat-focused areas managed by federal or state agencies.
Where the data comes from
Boundaries come from the NOAA Marine Protected Areas Inventory, the authoritative federal dataset of US MPAs. The polygons are served as vector tiles from LatLngβs tile CDN, so the map stays fast even when hundreds of complex boundaries are in view.
How to use the map
- Search by site name or state in the side panel to jump to any protected area.
- Filter by protection level (no-take, multi-use, sanctuary, monument).
- Click any perimeter to see its acreage, managing agency and protection type.
- Pan and zoom to load more sites in the current view.
Built on the LatLng maps platform
This is a live demo of the LatLng mapping stack: a user-uploaded GeoJSON dataset served as vector tiles via the Dataset Tiles API, rendered on LatLng basemap tiles. You can publish your own boundary or point data the same way on a free tier.
Frequently asked questions
How much of US waters is protected?
Roughly 25% of United States waters lie within some form of marine protected area, though only a fraction of that is fully no-take. Coverage is dominated by a few very large Pacific monuments.
What is the difference between a sanctuary and a no-take reserve?
A national marine sanctuary is usually multi-use β fishing and recreation are allowed under rules. A no-take reserve prohibits all extraction, making it the strictest protection level.
Is this data official?
Yes β boundaries are sourced directly from NOAAβs Marine Protected Areas Inventory, the federal system of record for US MPAs.
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