Giant black sea bass, gathering in a mating - courtship aggregation amid kelp forest, Catalina Island.
Species: Giant Black Sea Bass, Stereolepis gigas
Giant black sea bass, endangered species, reaching up to 8' in length and 500 lbs, amid giant kelp forest.
Giant kelp frond showing pneumatocysts. Small gas bladders -- pneumatocysts -- connect the kelp's stipes ("stems") to its blades ("leaves"). These bladders help elevate the kelp plant from the bottom, towards sunlight and the water's surface.
Hooded Nudibranch Melibe leonina on kelp and rocky reef, Browning Pass, Vancouver Island, Canada.
Species: Hooded Nudibranch, Melibe leonina
Giant black sea bass, endangered species, reaching up to 8' in length and 500 lbs, amid giant kelp forest. Catalina Island, California, USA.
Garibaldi 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: Garibaldi, California golden gorgonian, Hypsypops rubicundus, Muricea californica
Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA
Garibaldi and red gorgonian on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. The red gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Garibaldi, Red gorgonian, Hypsypops rubicundus, Lophogorgia chilensis
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
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
Drift kelp, a kelp paddy, floating patch of kelp on the open ocean which attracts marine life and forms of moving oasis of life, an open ocean habitat, aerial photo.
A California sea lion plays with a piece of kelp, underwater at Santa Barbara Island. Santa Barbara Island, 38 miles off the coast of southern California, is part of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and Channel Islands National Park. It is home to a large population of sea lions.
California bat ray in kelp forest.
Garibaldi in kelp forest.
Species: Garibaldi, Hypsypops rubicundus, Macrocystis pyrifera
Blue shark and offshore drift kelp.
Species: Blue shark, Prionace glauca, Macrocystis pyrifera
Location: San Diego, California, USA
Blue shark underneath offshore drift kelp, open ocean.
Giant kelp, blades, stipes and pneumatocysts, backlit by the sun in shallow water.