Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Expanded to 490,000 Square Miles

By Presidential Proclamation, and continuing a project started by the Bush administration, the President Obama has expanded the size of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument from 83,000 square miles to 490,000. At three times the size of California and nearly as large as Alaska., it is the world's largest marine sanctuary. Protected islands include Hawaii, Wake Island, Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, Johnston Atoll, and Jarvis Island.

Photo: Palmyra Atoll, a wet, equatorial atoll with fringing reefs, native forests and abundant seabirds, Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, US Line Islands, PRIMNM by Tui De Roy