The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is committed to creating innovative partnerships to ensure that the public understands the need to preserve and protect the unique ecological and cultural resources found in the National Marine Sanctuary System. The results of these partnerships will help ensure that coral reefs thrive, kelp forests are abundant and all marine life flourishes. The following corporate and federal partners help the foundation create meaningful opportunities for public interaction with the nation’s marine sanctuaries; thus, ensuring good ocean stewardship and education.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation works closely with the Friends of National Marine Sanctuaries, a coalition of organizations supporting individual sanctuaries. These organizations include: the Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation, the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation, the Olympic Coast Alliance, the Sanctuary Friends Foundation of the Florida Keys, Stellwagen Alive!, and Friends of the Thunder Bay National Sanctuary.

The Foundation is a steering member organization of the Friends of NOAA, which is a group comprised of supporters, stakeholders and partners of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and exists to encourage Congress to provide appropriate support for the agency as it carries out its mission of saving lives and livelihoods. The group also seeks gain more support for NOAA within the Executive Branch, especially in regards to the budget process. Find out more about the coalition here.

The Foundation has partnered with Qatar Foundation International, LLC (QFI) for "Ocean for Life," a student exchange program that brings together students from Western countries and Greater Middle Eastern countries. The program promotes ocean science field studies in national marine sanctuaries, resulting in improved cross-cultural understanding. QFI is a not-for-profit organization in Washington,D.C., focused on grant-giving and programmatic activities that promote education as a force that facilitates collaboration across geographical, social and cultural boundaries. This is an ideal partnership for the Foundation to advance internationally-focused sanctuary education programs.   As part of the partnership, the Foundation and Ocean for Life alumni participated in the Earth Day celebrations in Qatar, sponsored by QFI. The Ocean Melody video produced by OFL students was shown at Qatar’s first environmental film festival.

Bruckner Chase swims because he feels an intimate connection to the oceans and waterways around him. He knows our life and livelihood depend on the health of our natural waters, and whether one lives in Columbus, Ohio, or Santa Cruz, California, our daily activities impact the oceans. Bruckner wants people to remember and re-discover what they love about the beaches, the lakes, the rivers, or the oceans around them. He believes that if people can reconnect to their passions, they can create sustainable change driven by intrinsic motivation that does not depend on what others tell them to think, feel, or believe. Long-distance open-water swimming allows Bruckner and his wife, Michelle, to connect to a growing community while also connecting to each other and their families. On August 24, 2010, Bruckner completed a 28-mile swim across Monterey Bay to show the connection we all share with the natural waters around us and to inspire a commitment to discovering how our efforts can affect our environment and community. With upcoming swims through the sanctuaries, Bruckner and Michelle are working to positively impact how we all feel and think about the oceans and our role in preserving and protecting them.

SeaweedArt in Santa Cruz, California uses sustainably harvested seaweed from the Monterey Bay to create beautiful greeting cards, each depicting different species of seaweed found within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. SeaweedArt is committed to raising awareness and funds for the protection and preservation of our oceans, beaches, coastlines and marine habitats. For every set of cards sold, 10% of the profits will be donated towards the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center.

Santa Cruz Sea Glass uses authentic sea glass handpicked within the Monterey Bay Sanctuary to create one-of-a-kind sea glass jewelry. Every piece is found by them and is 100% natural, not altered or artificially tumbled in any way. They strive to make high quality, hand-forged sterling silver jewelry that reflects the organic beauty of pure, natural sea glass. Their efforts to maintain a Green company extend into every level of their business; from collecting excess trash on the beach, being a steward for ocean preservation, to choosing recycled USA sourced silver. In keeping with their desire to conserve our oceans, they became an official donation partner of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in 2008. As a Foundation partner, they donate directly back into the building of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz, California.

Recognizing the vital need and benefit of working with the dive industry to support conservation efforts, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is proud to be partnering with the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) in support of its “Be A Diver” campaign. The “Be A Diver” campaign seeks to encourage people to become divers, and to experience all the wonders of a world under water. The Foundation seeks to inspire people to preserve, protect, and promote our nationwide network of marine sanctuaries – our underwater national parks protected by Congress. These sanctuaries comprise some of the nation’s best dive spots, teeming with natural and cultural treasures, such as coral reefs, kelp forests, and shipwrecks. By joining forces, the Foundation and DEMA hope to promote a shared message to encourage diving, and to ensure the preservation and protection our nation’s underwater treasures for the diving community, present and future.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation has partnered with OceansForMe.com, the world’s first and only ocean registry that allows users to actually purchase their own virtual ocean parcel, identifiable by GPS coordinates, and explore the ocean on an interactive map. For every parcel registered within a National Marine Sanctuary, OceansForMe will donate a portion of the gross receipts to the NMSF to support the Foundation’s ongoing marine conservation efforts focused on education and research programs.

Recognizing the need to better educate and inform the public about the National Marine Sanctuary System, the National Marine Sanctuary Program and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation seek out appropriate partnerships with individuals and groups to leverage their collective abilities to preserve and protect these underwater treasures. In their efforts to support and further the goals of the National Marine Sanctuary System, NMSP and NMSF share a mutual interest in creating conservation-based research, education, and outreach programs designed to connect the public with the mission of the sanctuary system and the importance of conserving the marine resources contained within each of the 14 sites within the system.