Happy New Year! As I was reviewing National Ocean Service activities over the past year, one item stuck out as particularly memorable. In August, NOAA commemorated—for the first time ever—the 20 crewmembers who lost their lives when the U.S. Coast Survey Steamer Robert J. Walker was hit by a commercial vessel and sank off the coast of New Jersey. More than 150 years after the vessel was lost, the wreck has been positively identified.

Identifying this site resulted from a private-public collaboration that included key contributions from NOS's Offices of National Marine Sanctuaries and Coast Survey. I invite you to learn more about how the Walker was found in our latest podcast, which features interviews with the Office of Coast Survey's Vitad Pradith and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries' James Delgado.

For more resources on the Walker, I hope you take the time to explore this Coast Survey feature, videos of the dive to the shipwreck from Sanctuaries, and a story on this website.

Holly A. Bamford, Ph.D.
Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal
Zone Management, National Ocean Service