| has gloss | eng: Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is the site of the wreck of the USS Monitor, one of the most famous shipwrecks in U.S. history. It was designated as the country's first national marine sanctuary on January 30, 1975, and is the only one of the thirteen national marine sanctuaries created to protect a cultural resource rather than a natural resource. The sanctuary comprises a column of water one nautical mile in diameter extending from the ocean’s surface to the seabed around the wreck of the Civil War ironclad, which lies 16 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. Average water depth in the sanctuary is 230 feet, depending on tidal cycles and the Gulf Stream. Since its sinking in 1862, the Monitor has become an artificial reef attracting numerous fish species, including amberjack, black seabass, oyster toadfish and great barracuda. |
