For the environmental community - ocean activists in particular - the sound of disappointment is the Bush administration's proposed 2006 budget hitting the president's desk.

They've been waiting since President Bush released his Ocean Action Plan in December in response to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's report to see if Bush would underline a commitment to the oceans with cash.

But the nearly 9 percent cut to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's budget compared to what was allocated for 2005 disregards dire warnings from two blue ribbon commissions about the health of the world's oceans, advocates say.

"There seems to be a very strong disconnect between the efforts of U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and their calls for increased investment in ocean science, management and conservation and the NOAA budget," said Ted Morton, federal policy director for the international marine conservation group Oceana.

Some in marine conservation are waiting to see what Congress does with the Bush budget, but they say the cuts at NOAA are a bad sign.

"With the release of the two ocean reports, we really expected better from the administration, so we have a general sense of disappointment," said Erica Santangelo, legislative analyst for The Ocean Conservancy.

Along with the U.S. Commission, the earlier and privately funded Pew Oceans Commission delivered much the same results and called for more money to better understand the oceans and protect them.

Overall, the White House budget reduces domestic discretionary spending for all federal programs not involved in defense or homeland security by less than 1 percent. But environmental programs took a proportionally much bigger hit, losing 10.4 percent, or $3.3 billion short of the $31.3 billion allocated for 2005.

Out of the NOAA budget, the National Ocean Service lost 38 percent over what had been allocated last year. Those are cuts to coral reef protection programs, coastal zone management grants and the National Marine Sanctuary program, among others.

The National Marine Sanctuary program took a pretty heavy hit on its own, losing almost $15 million from what was allocated last year. That's close to a 30 percent cut.

Officials at NOAA wouldn't comment on how the cuts might affect the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, saying they have to wait for the final budget.

"We're part way into the process," NOAA spokesman Jordan St. John said. "We don't know ultimately what our budget is going to be exactly. Congress will have its chance to make adjustments."

Gone as well is $2.1 million that the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory lost for monitoring water quality in the Florida Keys, Florida Bay and the Southwest Florida shelf.

Scientists had to scramble last fall to continue the program in place since 1995 and that will keep an eye on the downstream effects of Everglades Restoration.

The data collected under the now unfunded program aided continuing efforts in several areas aside from Everglades restoration, including red tide research and the impact that river, storm water and agricultural runoff from the peninsula has on Gulf waters, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys.

Monday's budget release is toward the beginning of a process that isn't over until Congress makes its changes and Bush signs off on them.

Historically, members of Congress put programs - called congressional earmarks - back in the budget, though they are only good for the year in question and aren't added to NOAA's base budget for the next.

It's what happened last year, but even so, observers in the environmental community say the signal from Bush doesn't match up with his Ocean Action Plan.

"The Senate last year was very important on helping restore the cuts and providing more money for the conservation programs," Morton said. "We'll be working to convince leaders in the U.S. Congress to do the same this year."