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| A view of an underwater forest of giant kelp. 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. Image ID: 25400 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Kelp beds adorn the coastline of San Clemente Island, aerial photograph. Image ID: 25984 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Jack mackerel and kelp. Image ID: 00380 Species: Pacific jack mackerel, Trachurus symmetricus, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Kelp canopy. Image ID: 00602 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Garibaldi. Image ID: 00635 Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Jack mackerel schooling in kelp. Image ID: 01019 Species: Pacific jack mackerel, Trachurus symmetricus, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| California sea lion. Image ID: 02973 Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Divers and kelp forest. Image ID: 02990 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Diver amid kelp forest. Image ID: 03157 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Kelp forest. Image ID: 06092 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Garibaldi swimming over surfgrass in kelp forest. Image ID: 06274 Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus, Phyllospadix, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Diver in kelp. Image ID: 00274 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Diver and red gorgonian. Image ID: 01485 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | California Golden gorgonian polyps. The golden gorgonian is a colonial organism composed of thousands of tiny polyps. Each polyp secretes calcium which accumulates to form the structure of the colony. The fan-shaped gorgonian is oriented perpendicular to prevailing ocean currents to better enable to filter-feeding polyps to capture passing plankton and detritus passing by. Image ID: 03481 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | California Golden gorgonian in kelp forest. Image ID: 03486 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Red gorgonian, polyp detail. Image ID: 07005 Species: Red gorgonian, Lophogorgia chilensis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Kelp fronds grow upward from the reef below to reach the ocean surface and spread out to form a living canopy. Image ID: 07490 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | A freediving spearfisherman glides quietly through the kelp forest in search of game fish to hunt. The most skilled spearfishermen forego the use of SCUBA, which is noisy underwater and scares away fish. Instead, they practice breathhold techniques to move silently through the water. San Clemente Island. Image ID: 10235 Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| San Clemente Island, aerial photo, steep cliffs and mountainous terrain on the south eastern shore of the island. Image ID: 25981 Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Ghost lobster trap, abandoned lobster trap, San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30872 Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Fish hiding in invasive sargassum, Sargassum horneri, San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30873 Species: Sargassum horneri Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Blacksmith Chromis and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef, San Clemente 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. Image ID: 30891 Species: Blacksmith, California golden gorgonian, Chromis punctipinnis, Muricea californica Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | California golden gorgonian and small juvenile sheephead fishes on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. 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. Image ID: 30903 Species: California sheephead wrasse, Semicossyphus pulcher Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Southern sea palm, palm kelp, underwater, San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30919 Species: Southern sea palm, Eisenia arborea Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Asparagopsis taxiformis, red marine algae, growing on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest at San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30939 Species: Asparagopsis taxiformis Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | Southern sea palm (yellow) and surf grass (green), shallow water, San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30952 Species: Southern palm kelp, Surfgrass, Eisenia arborea, Phyllospadix Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | 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. Image ID: 30955 Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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| Surfgrass (Phyllospadix), shallow water, San Clemente Island. Image ID: 30941 Species: Surfgrass, Phyllospadix Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | 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. Image ID: 23446 Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA | California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest, San Clemente 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, San Clemente 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. Image ID: 30893 Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA |
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