Video
Sand lance are a small fish that serve as a crucial link in the ocean food web, burrowing into the sandy bottom of the seafloor. To better understand the potential impacts sand harvesting could have on the sand lance – and the fish, birds, whales and seals that depend on them – BOEM partnered with the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary located offshore of Massachusetts. No mining or leasing activities are permitted in the Sanctuary, making it an ideal living laboratory to better understand sand lance populations and seafloor ecology.