{"id":66,"date":"2005-06-09T20:08:04","date_gmt":"2005-06-10T04:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/portfolio\/the-kelp-forest-part-ii\/"},"modified":"2021-07-15T08:08:24","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T00:08:24","slug":"the-kelp-forest-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/the-kelp-forest-part-ii.html","title":{"rendered":"The Kelp Forest :: Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is my spirited opinion, one that I enjoy defending over a beer<\/a> after a long day on the water, that diving amidst giant kelp<\/a> is the most magnificent diving in the world. I am fortunate enough to have had some amazing experiences underwater — watching swarms of hammerheads<\/a> soar overhead, riding the broad back<\/a> of an accommodating manta, being eyeballed<\/a> by an inquisitive whale. However, the diving I consider most dear is that found in the splendid kelp forests along the coast and offshore islands of California. Vast beds of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera<\/a><\/em>) line the shore, rising from rocky reefs nearly 100ft deep to reach the surface before spreading out to form a thick floating canopy<\/a>. Underneath this canopy, the sensation of swimming amid the columns of kelp plants<\/a> is akin to flying through a terrestrial forest. Corridors between kelp stalks lead to wide openings in the forest in which schools of fish hover<\/a>. Shafts of light filtered by the canopy above fall across kelp to the reef below. When the current shifts and bends the kelp stalks<\/a> in a new direction the topology of the forest changes, creating new avenues and rooms to explore.<\/p>\n

Continued…<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kelp<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelp canopy.
\nImage ID: 02118<\/a>
\nSpecies: Giant kelp<\/a>, Macrocystis pyrifera<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: San Clemente Island<\/a>, California<\/a>, USA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kelp<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelp forest.
\nImage ID: 02409<\/a>
\nSpecies: Giant kelp<\/a>, Macrocystis pyrifera<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: San Clemente Island<\/a>, California<\/a>, USA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Kelp<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelp bed. Giant macrocystis kelp is anchored on the ocean floor and grows to reach the ocean surface.
\nImage ID: 02502<\/a>
\nSpecies: Giant kelp<\/a>, Macrocystis pyrifera<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: San Clemente Island<\/a>, California<\/a>, USA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Divers<\/a><\/p>\n

Divers and kelp forest.
\nImage ID: 02988<\/a>
\nSpecies: Giant kelp<\/a>, Macrocystis pyrifera<\/i><\/a>
\nLocation: San Clemente Island<\/a>, California<\/a>, USA<\/a><\/p>\n

For more photos of the kelp forest, see http:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/html\/kelp.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is my spirited opinion, one that I enjoy defending over a beer after a long day on the water, that diving amidst giant kelp is the most magnificent diving in the world. I am fortunate enough to have had some amazing experiences underwater — watching swarms of hammerheads soar…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,95,400,115,122],"tags":[221,248,330],"class_list":{"0":"post-66","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"category-natural-world","9":"category-san-clemente-island","10":"category-stories","11":"category-underwater-life","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-giant-kelp","14":"tag-underwater"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oceanlight.com\/log\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}