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Wide Angle

Coal Oil Point (Devereux)

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A small Two-Spot Octopus wandering the reef off Coal Oil Point. Some of its tentacles have been ripped off by hungry fish, but have healed over time.

California Sargo making their way through the kelp

A cluster of California Spiny Lobster underneath a ledge. Many of the overhangs and ledges of reef off Coal Oil point are covered with lobster.

Leopard Sharks schooling in the shallows just west of the tip of Coal Oil Point. The palm tree in the background is right next to the old grafitti cement house on the beach.

Two octopi hiding among the reef on a clear day off Coal Oil Point. It is unusual to see two octopi in such close proximity to each other.

A young Horn Shark gliding through the reef structure off coal oil point. This one was only about a foot long but they can grow over three feet long. This species is usually noctournal.

Motion blur on the antennae of a California Spiny Lobster

A beautiful Two-Spot Octopus

A Giant Sea Star on a clear day in the kelp forest off Coal Oil Point.

A Giant Black Sea Hare roams the reef looking for a group to mate with. These sea slugs can grow up to three feet long.

A plastic bag, likely from nearby Isla Vista.

A group of California Spiny Lobster sharing a ledge in shallow water.

Beautiful colors on a busy day off Coal Oil Point. This day had about 25ft visibility and tons of fish were out and about.

California Sargo passing by on an unusually clear day off Coal Oil Point

Way out in the kelpbeds, in about 25ft of water, there lies the wreckage of the old oil pier that used to extend SouthEast off the tip of Coal Oil Point back in the 1930's. Here's part of that wreckage (note the metal I-Beams), with plenty of marine life now calling it home.

Way out in the kelpbeds, in about 25ft of water, there lies the wreckage of the old oil pier that used to extend SouthEast off the tip of Coal Oil Point back in the 1930's. Here's part of that wreckage (note the metal I-Beams), with plenty of marine life now calling it home.

California Spiny Lobster, stacked on the wreckage of the old oil pier.

A four foot long Leopard Shark, cruising through the shallows.

Epic reef colors made up of hydrocorals, bryzoans, tunicates, anemones, and other invertebrates. Not an inch of this is void of life.

Macrocystis holdfast (Giant Kelp root)

See the octopus? Its blending in as best it can, to avoid being spotted by the hungry fish in the background. These things are crazy intellegent and always amaze me with how well they can analyze/blend into the reef around them.

Baitfish circling around a column of kelp in about 20ft of water off Coal Oil Point

This eight inch long Red Abalone lived on the side of a reef ledge off Coal Oil Point in about 15ft of water. It was right near the spot where I'd enter the water, so for about two years I fed this abalone a piece of kelp on nearly every dive. In this photo, it's happily munching on a piece of macrocystis. Unfortunately, it dissapeared after a large swell in January of 2019.

Looking up at a Calico Bass hovering underneath columns of kelp. A common sight on the reef out here.

A ledge in about 20ft of water filled to maximum capacity with California Spiny Lobster.

A little three foot long Leopard Shark making its way through the shallows.

A Two-Spot Octopus blending into the reef.

A California Spiny Lobster wandering among the surf grass in the shallows.

Sunset in the kelpbed.

Macrocystis in all its glory. Apparently this stuff can grow up to three feet in one day.

A California Halibut, unsure about my camera. These fish start life swimming vertically with one eye on either side of thier heads like normal fish. As they mature, one eye migrates over to the other side of the fish as it orients itself horizontally. This species often partially buries itself in the sand, camoflauged, waiting to ambush prey.

Cabezon camoflauge.

Macrocystis Giant Kelp portrait.

Three decent sized California Spiny lobster out in the open, a large California Sheepshead in the background.

Backlit Macrocystis Giant Kelp. This is what comrises the majority of the kelpbed off Coal Oil Point.

A young cabeon, taking off

Gavin with a large Sheep Crab. The crab was not harmed, and put back where found immediately after this photo was taken.

Although most of the leopard sharks are found in shallow water, sometimes they make their way out onto the reef.

California Spiny Lobster, Holding down the reef.

A California Halibut, unsure about my camera. These fish start life swimming vertically with one eye on either side of thier heads like normal fish. As they mature, one eye migrates over to the other side of the fish as it orients itself horizontally. This species often partially buries itself in the sand, camoflauged, waiting to ambush prey.

A classic California reef Scene. Everything from Lobster, to fish, to nudibranchs. This is what much of the reef looks like off Coal Oil Point.

A Batray lifting itself off the sand to check out my camera. These are a common sight off Coal Oil Point during months with warmer waters

A Leopard Shark leaves the shallows and explores the reef beneath a thick kelp canopy.

An incredibly large (+-10lbs?) California Spiny Lobster off Coal Oil Point in about 15ft of water. This particular lobster has been in the same hole for years (I call him Larry). Check out the 'normal-sized' lobster behind Larry for reference.

Macrocystis in all its glory. Apparently this stuff can grow up to three feet in one day.

Macrocystis Portrait

If California Spinly Lobster had an album cover, this would probably be it.

Calico Bass patrolling the reef. These are some of the most common fish off Coal Oil Point.

Sunset in the kelp.

A Two-Spot Octopus Patrolling the reef.

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© 2021 by Marco Mazza Photography