California Coastal National Monument

Big Sur

California Coastal National Monument, protected offshore ecosystem extending along the entire 1,100-mile- (1,800-km-) long coast of California, U.S., from Oregon to Mexico. The monument, established in 2000, covers an area 12 nautical miles (13.8 statute miles, or 22.2 km) wide, reaching from the shoreline to the edge of the continental shelf.

The monument’s unusual design includes primarily water area, but its most important components are its thousands of shoreline rocks and pinnacles, reefs, and islands. All such formations exposed above the high-tide line are considered part of the monument. The California coast is known for the beauty of its crashing waves, tall cliffs, rocky shores, beaches, and tide pools, and the monument protects the complete coastal ecosystem. It provides nesting and feeding grounds for vast numbers of seabirds such as gulls, terns, pelicans, and plovers, many of which have been forced offshore from their traditional mainland areas by human development along the coast. A variety of marine mammals, including sea otters, seals, and sea lions, also inhabit the monument.