A SCUBA diver enters a submarine cavern at Santa Barbara Island, underwater cave.
Location: Santa Barbara Island, California
Image ID: 23423
Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts. Pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders, float the kelp plant off the ocean bottom toward the surface and sunlight, where the leaf-like blades and stipes of the kelp plant grow fastest. Giant kelp can grow up to 2' in a single day given optimal conditions. Epic submarine forests of kelp grow throughout California's Southern Channel Islands.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23424
Eureka Sand Dunes, infrared black and white. The Eureka Dunes are California's tallest sand dunes, and one of the tallest in the United States. Rising 680' above the floor of the Eureka Valley, the Eureka sand dunes are home to several endangered species, as well as "singing sand" that makes strange sounds when it shifts.
Location: Eureka Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California
Image ID: 25278
A kelp forest. Giant kelp grows rapidly, up to 2' per day, from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom to which it is anchored, toward the ocean surface where it spreads to form a thick canopy. Myriad species of fishes, mammals and invertebrates form a rich community in the kelp forest. Lush forests of kelp are found through California's Southern Channel Islands.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23435
Sunlight filters through a kelp forest, the floating canopy of kelp spreads out on the ocean surface after having grown up from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom, underwater.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23467
Sunlight filters through a kelp forest, the floating canopy of kelp spreads out on the ocean surface after having grown up from the rocky reef on the ocean bottom, underwater.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23481