San Clemente Island photos

Kelp canopy.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 00602  

Garibaldi.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 00635  

Jack mackerel schooling in kelp.
Species: Pacific jack mackerel, Macrocystis pyrifera, Trachurus symmetricus
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 01019  

California sea lion.
Species: California sea lion, Zalophus californianus
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 02973  

Divers and kelp forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 02990  

Diver amid kelp forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 03157  

Kelp forest.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 06092  

Garibaldi swimming over surfgrass in kelp forest.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus, Macrocystis pyrifera, Phyllospadix
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 06274  

Diver in kelp.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 00274  

Diver and red gorgonian.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 01485  

California Golden gorgonian in kelp forest.
Species: California golden gorgonian, Macrocystis pyrifera, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 03486  

Red gorgonian, polyp detail.
Species: Red gorgonian, Leptogorgia chilensis, Lophogorgia chilensis
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 07005  

Kelp fronds grow upward from the reef below to reach the ocean surface and spread out to form a living canopy.
Species: Giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 07490  

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.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 10235  

San Clemente Island aerial photo, Pyramid Head and Balanced Rock at the southern end of the island. San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island, exhibits distinctive geologic terracing, underwater reefs and giant kelp forests.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38484  
Panorama dimensions: 5158 x 9854

San Clemente Island aerial photo, Pyramid Head and Balanced Rock at the southern end of the island. San Clemente Island Pyramid Head, the distinctive pyramid shaped southern end of the island, exhibits distinctive geologic terracing, underwater reefs and giant kelp forests.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38488  

San Clemente Island, aerial photo, steep cliffs and mountainous terrain on the south eastern shore of the island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25981  

Ghost lobster trap, abandoned lobster trap, San Clemente Island.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30872  

Fish hiding in invasive sargassum, Sargassum horneri, San Clemente Island.
Species: Sargassum horneri
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30873  

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.
Species: Blacksmith, California golden gorgonian, Chromis punctipinnis, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30891  

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.
Species: California sheephead wrasse, Semicossyphus pulcher
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30903  

Southern sea palm, palm kelp, underwater, San Clemente Island.
Species: Southern sea palm, Eisenia arborea
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30919  

Asparagopsis taxiformis, red marine algae, growing on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest at San Clemente Island.
Species: Asparagopsis taxiformis
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30939  

Southern sea palm (yellow) and surf grass (green), shallow water, San Clemente Island.
Species: Southern palm kelp, Surfgrass, Eisenia arborea, Phyllospadix
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30952  

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.
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30955  

Surfgrass (Phyllospadix), shallow water, San Clemente Island.
Species: Surfgrass, Phyllospadix
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30941  

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: 23446  

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.
Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 37078  

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.
Species: California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 30893