“To protect, preserve and nurture the “thrivability” of California’s coastal waters, living ocean, its scenic coastline, all of the natural resources and wildlife, its submerged Native American sacred sites and indigenous seafaring traditions for future generations…”

A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a safe haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a safe place for humans, such as a political sanctuary; and non-human sanctuary, such as an animal or plant sanctuary.