NOAA Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary

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Explore. Discover. Connect. Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary (GRNMS) protects a vibrant hard-bottom area off the Georgia coast. Photos of Gray's Reef!

The reef’s scattered rocky outcroppings and ledges provide homes for an abundance of marine life. Crabs, lobsters, soft corals, sponges, sea stars and other organisms form a dense carpet of living creatures, covering the nooks and crannies of Gray's Reef and giving it the name “live bottom." The reef attracts more than 200 species of fish, including black sea bass, snappers, groupers and mackerels. Loggerhead sea turtles, a threatened species, forage and rest year-round at Gray's Reef, and the reef is within the only known winter calving ground for the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale. Gray's Reef also attracts people: recreational boaters, anglers and divers are among the sanctuary's user groups. The bottom 1/3 of Gray's Reef is a research area where fishing and diving are prohibited. Boats may transit across the research area as long as they don't stop and all fishing gear is stowed and unavailable for use. The research area is used exclusively for controlled scientific studies. The 22-square-mile sanctuary is the only protected natural reef and one of a few natural marine protected areas in the Atlantic Ocean between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, given the sanctuary's remote location 16 miles east of Sapelo Island, Georgia, most people experience Gray's Reef through pictures or videos. Unlike reefs built by corals, Gray’s Reef comprises scattered limestone rock outcroppings that stand above the sandy surface of the nearly flat continental shelf. http://graysreef.noaa.gov/pgallery/welcome.html

Location of Gray's Reef. http://graysreef.noaa.gov/about/location/welcome.html

Diving at Gray's Reef. http://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/diving/welcome.html

Fishing at Gray's Reef. http://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/fishing/welcome.html

10/21/2026

Shellebrate with the largest reptile found at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary: Sea turtles!

There are six different turtle species in U.S. waters, and Gray's Reef has common sightings for three of them throughout the year: Loggerhead, leatherback, and green sea turtles. Fun Fact! Green sea turtles are not actually green on the outside, but on the inside! They are named for their green fat they get from eating mostly seagrasses and algae.

Learn more about turtles and how they're protected at the link below!

🌐➡️https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/sea-turtles

Content by NOAA, Video by Ben Pruiett/NOAA

10/14/2026

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us for the 2026 Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Science Symposium! 🌊✨ We brought together 63 marine science pros from across the Southeast region for an awesome day of sharing research conducted in and around the sanctuary, including on North Atlantic Right Whales, carbon dioxide tracking, and coral conservation 🪸🐋! And we can't forget to thank the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the University of Georgia Marine Extension for helping to make this event possible!

Photos by Emily Contract/NOAA

10/12/2026

It's National Fossil Day!

The underwater artifacts and fossils found at Gray’s Reef reveal how early humans in the Southeastern coastal region might have lived. Explorations of the sanctuary have led to the discovery of many fossils, including prehistoric arrowheads and the bones of long-extinct animals, including mastodons and an extinct species of horse, dating back almost 13,000 years.

The Gray's Reef we know today has only been underwater for the last 16,000 years! Due to glacial periods, the site of Gray's Reef is known to have been dryland at least seven times. As the glacial ice melted for the last time starting 18,000 years ago, water flowed back into the sea, filling the ocean basins and covering what was to become Gray's Reef.

Cultural artifacts found at Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary have been dated to 13,100 to 12,800 years ago! Atlatl hooks were used to help hunters throw spears farther, and arrowheads were likely used as a hunting tool.

Photos by Ervin Garrison/UGA

10/09/2026

To continue Cephalopod Awareness Week, let's celebrate World Squid Day!

Cephalopods, like squids, are some of the only animals that are able to change color using cells called chromatophores. By squeezing or relaxing muscles around the cells, they are able to control how much color is produced! Cephalopods use color changing to communicate with potential mates, possibly to warn predators, and to camouflage themselves.

Squids are also predators which swim by jet propulsion, reaching swimming speeds up to 40 kilometers per hour, the fastest of any aquatic invertebrate! While some squids hold the record for the biggest and heaviest invertebrate (animals with no backbone), the squids that frequent Gray's Reef are usually only a couple of inches long.

You can learn more about the animals that live in live-bottom habitats, like Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, on our website! https://graysreef.noaa.gov/

Photo 1 by Gabriel Jensen, Photo 2 by Greg McFall/NOAA

10/08/2026

Here at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary we are kicking Cephalopod Awareness Week off with celebrating World Octopus Day!!

The cephalopods, whose name literally means head foot, have their appendages attached to the head and include octopuses, squids, and nautiluses.

The most common octopus on the reef is the common octopus (really living up to its name)!! These eight-armed creatures are one of the cryptic species of the reef, often seen hiding in their dens within crevices or holes. Octopuses might be one of the most unique creatures on Gray's Reef as they have three hearts, no internal skeleton, and they use their beak to eat crustacean prey! Fun fact: they also have the largest brain of any invertebrate!

Visit our website to learn more about the octopuses that frequent the reef! https://graysreef.noaa.gov/

Photo: Peter Auster/University of Connecticut & Mystic Aquarium

10/05/2026

Happy World Teacher's Day!

Education is at the heart of our mission at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, and we love any opportunity to work with teachers. From our partnered Ocean Guardian School teachers to class field trips at the Ocean Discovery Center, we appreciate the educators that invest their time in sharing the beauty of our National Marine Sanctuaries with their students!

Want to dive deeper into the Ocean Discovery Center with a guided tour or education program?! Request a group visit timeslot by visiting our website:

https://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/centers/

All visits and programs with the Ocean Discovery Center are currently free.

Photos by Ben Prueitt/NOAA and Jessie Rivera Lafreniere/NOAA

09/30/2026

📢ATTN! This event has been rescheduled for a later date. We apologize for any inconvenience and will provide details on the new date when available.

Join us for a free webinar highlighting Hannah Keats, our Ocean Depths, Artistic Heights Artist in Residence! Hannah is an award-winning artist for her work related to ocean conservation, and is currently an Assistant Professor!

During the webinar, she will introduce her work, and tell the story of how she turned her love of the ocean into art that is making a difference. Gray’s Reef Ocean Discovery Center’s Ocean Depths, Artistic Heights program celebrates local artists whose work has a connection to our blue planet. Through a rotating series of displays, visitors can connect with artists, students, and ocean enthusiasts who aim to transcend classical science communication techniques by speaking through their visual art.

Does the ocean inspire you? Join us to learn how you or your group can become the Ocean Depths, Artistic Heights Artist in Residence at the Ocean Discovery Center!

When: October 8, 2026 from 6 pm - 7 pm

To sign up for the webinar, please visit our website and use the link provided in the calendar! https://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/centers/

Art by Hannah Keats, graphics by Jessie Rivera Lafreniere/NOAA

09/23/2026

Have you tried color hunting at Gray's Reef?

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary is teeming with marine life of all shapes, sizes, and colors, from loggerhead sea turtles that rest at the reef, to the more than 200 unique species of fishes and sharks, and 900 species of invertebrates. Animals on the reef utilize color in a myriad of ways... Some may use their vivid colors to camouflage with their surroundings, and some may be warning that they are venomous and not safe to eat!

Try your hand at color hunting on the reef! Make sure to always follow best diving and fishing practices when exploring your national marine sanctuaries!

Check out our website for a refresher on best practices: https://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/

Content by NOAA

09/22/2026

It's a turtle shellebration!!

The Gray's Reef Ocean Discovery Center hosted some special guests last weekend: diamondback terrapin hatchlings! Thank you to the Skidaway Audubon who joined the Gray’s Reef team in shellebrating the Georgia sea (and marsh) turtle hatching season.

And thank YOU for hanging out and meeting some of Georgia’s newest shelled residents, participating in a sea turtle spotting activity around the center, diving with sea turtles in VR, and even making your own hatchlings out of reclaimed egg cartons!

Happy Hatching!

To stay up to date on events happening at the Ocean Discovery Center, check out the events calendar on our website! https://graysreef.noaa.gov/visit/centers/

Content by Jessie Rivera Lafreniere/NOAA

09/21/2026

Join the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary team!

UGA's Marine Extension and GA Sea Grant is recruiting two Education and Outreach Assistants to support Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary in Savannah, GA. Duties include supporting daily operations of the Gray's Reef Ocean Discovery Center, assisting in content creation for social media, developing media outreach, and managing volunteers.

If it sounds like the role for you, find more information: https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/506403

Address

Office/10 Ocean Science Cir
Savannah, GA
31411

Telephone

+19125982434

Website

http://graysreef.noaa.gov/

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