Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary - History

History

Coastal California has a rich history of marine utilization by Native Americans and early settlers. Cordell Bank was a mystery prior to the 19th century because neither the Miwok natives nor the settlers had any incentive to venture far out from shore, when food resources were available close to shore. Many European mariners sailed right over Cordell Bank without even knowing it was there.

In the later half of the 1800s there was a strong incentive to survey the coast of California so as to promote maritine safety. Cordell Bank was discovered in 1853 by George Davidson of the US Coast Survey during a mapping expedition on California's north coast.

In 1869 Edward Cordell (the reserve's namesake) was sent to collect additional information on a "shoal west of Point Reyes". He found the area by following the numerous birds and maritime mammals. To measure the depth, Cordell lowered a lead weight into the water until it hit the bottom and then measured the length of the line on its return to the surface. The area was considered a productive fishing area, but not much was discovered about its marine life until an expedition in 1977.

The expedition was led by a non-profit research group, Cordell Expeditions. Over the next 10 years, scores of underwater dives documented the organism and wildlife living in, on, and around the bank. The efforts gave rise to an understanding of the diversity in the back, and the efforts were instrumental in the decision to make it a sanctuary.