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| Giant kelp beneath the kayak near the Monterey Breakwater. |
A good series of low tides often falls around the turn of
the new year and so was the case for the beginning of 2018. Winter days are
short, but in California
the spring low tides of the winter often occur in the afternoon, enabling a
good trip if weather and swells are favorable. A trip to the coast was in order
and for two days I had excellent tidepooling excursions to rocky shores near Pistachio Beach
in San Mateo County
and at Carmel Pt. south of Monterey .
My past several visits to Monterey
over the course of the year taunted me with seemingly calm conditions on the
eastern side of the Monterey
Peninsula Monterey Breakwater, more officially known as San
Carlos Beach
The Breakwater is well known to me, as well as many other SCUBA
divers, because it is a frequently-visited location for recreational diving,
including beginning courses. There is marine life on the breakwater rocks, a
subtidal eelgrass meadow, sandy bottoms, and a giant kelp forest (Macrocystis pyrifera) offshore of Cannery Row. It is part of the Ed Rickett's State Marine Conservation Area.
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| A curious sea otter. |
The waves were manageable yesterday so I launched from the
beach, though there was more chop and wind than would have been ideal. I didn’t
venture far, but circled around the kelp forest, paddling intermittently to
maintain position. Few kayakers or divers were out. My kayak is more suited for
calm riverine or estuarine paddling, but can handle milder ocean conditions.
Five, perhaps six, sea otters occupied the same kelp forest
that I spent time in. The animals generally kept their distance, but peered
curiously at me during breaks from their routine of diving below the surface to
hunt for food. Some black cormorants flew low over the water.
I was reminded of the difficulty of photography while
kayaking. The constant motion of the kayak precluded having much time to
compose thoughtful shots. The otters were too far away for any excellent
above-water photos with the waterproof camera. Below the surface, the main
subjects were kelp and Chrysaora, a
purple jellyfish that has been abundant at the breakwater on my last two visits
to Monterey . As
the kayak lumbered over swells and drifted in currents and wind, I plunged the
camera into the water over the side of the kayak and took stabs in the dark, so
to speak, of kelp and jellies at various angles. Remarkably, a few shots turned
out fairly well!
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| Jellies of the genus Chrysaora at the water's surface. |
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| Macrocystis pyrifera is the dominant canopy-forming species in most kelp forests in central and southern California. |
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