BOSTON -- Many people know it as the perfect place to whale watch, but Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary might be in trouble.

NewsCenter 5's David Brown reported that some people said the area is too polluted, over-fished and in jeopardy.

Dick Wheeler, 77, is a kayaker trying to raise awareness of the one-of-a-kind marine sanctuary.

Wheeler said he treasures every day on the water, as much as he treasures the water itself. Wheeler was gearing up for a three-day, 78-mile kayak trek from Provincetown to Gloucester to teach people about Stellwagen Bank.

"If you could see it without the water, it would be just a beautiful island with hills and canyons, flat places that would be meadows -- if it were dry -- gravelly places with big boulders, of course," Wheeler said.

The heart of Stellwagen Bank is an underwater plateau stretching 19 miles north to south from Cape Ann to Cape Cod. On its surface people can see the whales, but deep underneath it's the varied marine life that needs to be protected.

"It's offshore and it's underwater. It's sort of out of site and out of mind," Wheeler said. "This is our challenge to get people to relate to the sanctuary in a meaningful way and to care about it."

Wheeler is combining his love of educating about the ocean with his joy of kayaking. Sixteen years ago, he kayaked from Newfoundland to the Cape. It was a four-month, 1,600-mile kayaking adventure. That trip also was to raise awareness of the fragile ocean.

"If we don't rectify our ethic towards the body of water and what exists underneath it, then we might as well give up. I think it can be done," Wheeler said.