The
Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 marine sanctuaries administered by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the
U.S. Department of Commerce. It is located along the
Olympic Peninsula of
Washington state. The sanctuary was declared in 1994 and encompasses of the
Pacific Ocean from
Cape Flattery in the north, to the mouth of the Copalis River, a distance of about . Extending from the shore, it includes most of the continental shelf, as well as parts of three important
submarine canyons, the Nitinat Canyon, the Quinault Canyon and the Juan de Fuca Canyon. For along the coast, the sanctuary shares stewardship with the
Olympic National Park. The sanctuary overlays the
Flattery Rocks,
Quillayute Needles, and
Copalis Rock National Wildlife Refuges.