Currently there are thirteen sites in the U.S. National Marine Sanctuary System that protect over 18,000 square miles of American coastal waters. Coral reefs are a particular concern at several of these sites, as reefs are now recognized as being among the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on earth, as well as the most endangered. The smallest, remotest, and least explored site is the Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary (FBNMS) in American Samoa, the only true tropical coral reef in the sanctuary system. Until recently it was largely unexplored below depths of ~30 m, with no comprehensive documentation of the plants, animals, and submarine topography. Indeed, virtually nothing is known of shelf-edge (50-120 m deep) coral reef habitats throughout the world, and no inventory of benthic-associated species exists. Presented here are results of: (1) recent multibeam bathymetric surveys in April-May, 2001, to obtain complete topographic coverage of the deepest parts of FBNMS, as well as other sites around the island of Tutuila; (2) the integration of these and other baseline data into a GIS to facilitate future management decisions and research directions within the sanctuary; and (3) and efforts to build a local infrastructure on the island of Tutuila for the maintainance and update of GIS hardware, software, databases, and project initiatives.
Keywords: coastal/marine GIS, marine sanctuaries, seafloor mapping