The members of the first dive team to explore the Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary in the 1970s and 1980s are still the only known divers to have seen the reserve with their own eyes—and are now sharing their stories of the experience through the Cordell Expeditions Oral History Project.
The sanctuary is named after surveyor Edward Cordell, who was drawn to the area in 1869 after noticing the abundance of birds and marine mammals attracted…