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Biden proposes making underwater canyon off New York a marine sanctuary

Located about 100 miles from New York City, the Hudson Canyon is one of the largest underwater canyons in the world

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Updated June 8, 2022 at 5:07 p.m. EDT|Published June 8, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EDT
A computer-generated map, created by professor Peter A. Rona at Rutgers University, shows the Hudson Canyon on the ocean floor in 2006. (Mel Evans/AP)
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Long ago, the retreat of ice age glaciers carved one of the largest underwater canyons in the world into the seabed about 100 miles from New York City. Now, hundreds of species live there, including sperm whales, sea turtles and deep-sea corals.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced that it intends to designate the area a new national marine sanctuary, which would give it some of the same protections afforded to national parks.