[caption id="attachment_5259" align="alignright" width="300"] Sea Palm - photo copyright Steve Lonhart[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] Palm trees of the sea! Sea Palm is one of only a few types of algae that can survive and remain standing up when out of water. Surprisingly it actually spends more of its life exposed to air than it ...
[caption id="attachment_5253" align="alignright" width="300"] Grunion Run - photo copyright Fernando-Ramirez[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] Fish out of water! Grunion have a unique mating behavior of spawning on sandy beaches in southern California at very high tides, out of water. Females swim as far up on the beach as possible and ...
[caption id="attachment_5254" align="alignright" width="300"] Caliofornia Sheephead - photo copyright Tim Doherty[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] Did you know? All California Sheephead fish are born as females and most change sex from female to male later in life depending on environmental cues! Sheephead appear to have been an important part of the diets of Native Americans and their remains have been found in middens or areas containing shells, bones, and other items indicative of human settlement. Female sheephead are uniformly colored, a...
[caption id="attachment_5250" align="alignright" width="300"] California Spiny Lobster- - photo copyright Claire Fackler NOAA[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] Did you know? Unlike the popularly consumed American Lobster of the Atlantic coast, California Spiny Lobster lack claws! California spiny lobster defend themselves with a series of spines along their body and tail. They can also produce a loud noise using their antennae to scare off predators! Similar to the role sea otters play in kelp forests in central California, limiting urchin abundance and...
[caption id="attachment_5251" align="alignright" width="300"] Garibaldi - photo copyright Douglas Klug[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] Did you know? Garibaldi are California’s official state marine fish and it’s illegal to remove them from their natural environment! Although they can occur as far north as Monterey Bay, they are much more common in the warmer waters off of Southern California and the Channel Islands where they are seen jetting through kelp forests. Fiercely territorial! Adult garibaldi guard their territory and become very aggressive while...
[caption id="attachment_5260" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo copyright Glen Tepke[/caption] [edgtf_unordered_list style="circle" animate="yes" font_weight=""] The ocean is a mystery! The ocean occupies 71% of the Earth’s surface, but 95% of the ocean remains unexplored. Shark Facts! Out of more than 360 species of sharks only a handful of species pose a potential threat to humans. Did you know? Elephants kill more people every year than sharks! Speeding tickets! Sailfish, swordfish, and marlin are the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of up...
