Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) Congress established the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) in November 1990 to protect the region’s valuable and unique resources. Mounting ecological threats to the Keys’ coral reef ecosystem prompted this designation. Such threats included exploratory oil drilling, seagrass die-offs, coral bleaching and coral disease, declining reef-fish populations, deteriorating water quality, and groundings of large ships on the reef tract. The sanctuary comprises approximately 9,844 km2 of water and submerged lands. It adjoins Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park to the north and surrounds Dry Tortugas National Park to the west. The sanctuary's landward boundary is the mean high-water line; its southern boundary in the Florida Straits generally follows the 300-foot depth contour. Much of the sanctuary lies within state waters and the sanctuary is jointly managed by NOAA and the State of Florida under a co-trustee agreement (see FKNMS Draft Revised Management Plan). Numerous federal and state parks and preserves lie within the sanctuary's boundaries. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on the Web: FKNMS Contacts: Cheva Heck Public Outreach Specialist Phone: (305) 809-4700, ext. 236 cheva.heck@noaa.gov Mary Tagliareni Education & Outreach Coordinator Phone: (305) 852-7717, ext. 30 mary.tagliareni@noaa.gov Dr. Brian Keller Research Coordinator Phone: (727) 553-1100 brian.keller@noaa.gov CDR Dave Score, NOAA Superintendent Phone: (305) 809-4700, ext. 233 david.a.score@noaa.gov Florida Keys    National Marine Sanctuary Headquarters 33 East Quay Road Key West, FL 33040 Florida Keys Management Areas (PDF, 3 MB) Benthic Habitats of the Florida Keys (PDF, 2.6 MB) Florida Keys Region The Florida Keys archipelago extends from Soldier Key in Biscayne Bay southwest to the Dry Tortugas, a distance of more than 320 km. The Keys are bounded on the north and west by the relatively shallow waters of Biscayne Bay, Florida Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. All of these bodies of water contain areas of mud shoals and seagrass beds. Hawk Channel lies to the south, between the mainland Keys and an extensive coral reef tract 8 km offshore. The Straits of Florida lies beyond the coral reef and separates the Keys from Cuba and the Bahamas. The Florida Keys lack the wide expanses of sandy beaches characteristic of much of the Atlantic coast. In fact, beaches of any significant size and width are rare. Of the 2,990 km of total shoreline in the Keys, fewer than 50 km (less than 2%) are considered to be sandy beaches. This paucity of sandy beaches is principally due to lack of sediment sources in the Keys, which are composed primarily of old calcium carbonate reefs. Unique marine environments, including seagrass meadows, mangrove-fringed islands, and extensive living coral reefs, are located adjacent to and surrounding the Keys. These environments support rich biological communities that give this area special national significance. The marine environment of the Florida Keys supports more than 6,000 species of plants, fishes, and invertebrates. It also contains the largest seagrass communities in the northern hemisphere and the nation’s only coral reef tract that lies adjacent to the continent. The more than 1700 islands of the Keys, inhabited from Soldier Key to Key West, have a total area of approximately 266 km² and, generally, less than one meter relief. Key Largo (65 km2) and Big Pine Key (27 km2) are the largest of the 1,700 islands that make up the Florida Keys.