Multi-use and Multi-vocal Challenges of Preserving Underwater Cultural Heritage in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

The cultural identity of Massachusetts is intrinsically linked to the sea. For hundreds of years, ship-borne trade, migration, whaling, and fishing have tied Massachusetts to a world system of maritime commerce and culture and brought the world back to it through the area that is now Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS). Established in 1992, SBNMS is an 842-square mile area in the mouth of Massachusetts Bay, located 25 miles east of Boston, 3 miles southeast of Cape Ann, and 3 miles north of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Named for Lt. Henry S. Stellwagen, a nineteenth-century Navy surveyor, the sanctuary protects a productive and diverse marine ecosystem which has been the subject of centuries of fishing activity. It is also estimated that 200 shipwrecks rest on the seafloor within the sanctuary’s boundaries, representing more than 400 years of maritime history, industry, and culture (Fig. 6.1).