Catalina Island photos

Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33444  

Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33445  

Sunlight streams through giant kelp forest. Giant kelp, the fastest growing plant on Earth, reaches from the rocky reef to the ocean's surface like a submarine forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33446  

Submarine Reef with Hydrocoral and Invertebrates, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Species: Hydrocoral, Allopora californica, Stylaster californicus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 34194  

A giant black sea bass is an endangered species that can reach up to 8 feet in length and 500 pounds, often found amid the giant kelp forest, Once nearly fished to extinction and now thought to be at risk of a genetic bottleneck, the giant sea bass is slowly recovering and can be seen in summer months in California's kelp forests.
Species: Giant black sea bass, Stereolepis gigas
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 34616  

Red gorgonian with polyps retracted, Leptogorgia chilensis, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island, California.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37263  

Submarine Reef with Bryozoan clusters, Hydrocoral and Invertebrates, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Species: Hydrocoral, Strawberry anemone, Allopora californica, Corynactis californica, Stylaster californicus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 34189  

Red gorgonian Leptogorgia chilensis, purple hydrocoral Stylaster californicus, and yellow zoanthid anemone Epizoanthus giveni, at Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Species: Red gorgonian, Hydrocoral, Givens Zoanthid, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis, Allopora californica, Stylaster californicus, Epizoanthus giveni
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37220  

Garibaldi maintains a patch of orange algae (just in front of the fish) to entice a female to lay a clutch of eggs, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37255  

Red gorgonian Leptogorgia chilensis with yellow zoanthid anemone Epizoanthis giveni, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island, California.
Species: Red gorgonian, Givens Zoanthid, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis, Epizoanthus giveni
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37269  

Catalina Island, West End.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 25979  

Red gorgonian (Lophogorgia chilensis) rises above fields of purple hydrocoral (Stylaster californicus, Allopora californica) on Farnsworth Bank, Catalina Island.
Species: Hydrocoral, Red gorgonian, Allopora californica, Stylaster californicus, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37179  

Pacific torpedo ray Tetronarce californica, amidst huge schools of fish and baitfish, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island. This electric ray will shock the hell out of you if you are not careful.
Species: Pacific torpedo ray, Tetronarce californica, Torpedo californica
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37235  

Giant black sea bass, endangered species, reaching up to 8' in length and 500 lbs, amid giant kelp forest.
Species: Giant black sea bass, Stereolepis gigas
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 33370  

Purple hydrocoral Stylaster californicus and yellow zoanthid anemone Epizoanthus giveni, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Species: Hydrocoral, Givens Zoanthid, Allopora californica, Stylaster californicus, Epizoanthus giveni
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37217  

Purple hydrocoral Stylaster californicus, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island, California.
Species: Hydrocoral, Allopora californica, Stylaster californicus
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37268  

Garibaldi in kelp forest, Catalina Island.
Image ID: 37145  

Garibaldi and golden gorgonian, with a underwater forest of giant kelp rising in the background, underwater.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37154  

Golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, amid kelp forest, Catalina Island. The golden gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37156  

Pyrosome drifting through a kelp forest, Catalina Island. Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates that usually live in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas. Pyrosomes are cylindrical or cone-shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37164  

Golden gorgonian (Muricea californica) on Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37180  

California golden gorgonian under a kelp forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37186  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37187  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37188  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37192  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37194  

Kelp fronds and pneumatocysts, giant kelp forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37196  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37197  

Fisheye view of a Giant Kelp Forest, Catalina Island.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37198  

Red gorgonian Leptogorgia chilensis with yellow zoanthid anemone Epizoanthis giveni, Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island, California.
Species: Red gorgonian, Givens Zoanthid, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis, Epizoanthus giveni
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37218