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Although I spent much more time in California, I did little (none to be exact) S.C.U.B.A. diving there.This was on account of several reasons:

• The water was EXTREMELY cold, and one had to wear significant layers of wet suits.
• The coast that we lived on had VERY rough and dangerous tides; i.e. the "undertow" was so strong that it carried people out TO sea.
• The waves were very rough and there were many sharp rocks ; the 2 combined could create problems;
• The diving environment consisted mainly of "Kelp Beds" which could prove to be dangerous to the S.C.U.B.A. diver (See Below)
• There were a number of dangerous sea creatures nearby our coast.
• Finally, the VERY BEAUTIFUL California coastal environment and beaches were a MAJOR attraction c.f The gorgeous Pacific Coast Scenic Highway One, and Big Sur.

There was a wide variety of Sea Mammals that frequented areas that were very close to shore:There were Whales which when migrating passed very close to shore; a frequent tourist attraction.

There was a multitude of Seals which are of the suborder Pinnepedia (I luckily cannot draw them) but they are very "cute" described as having "A torpedo-like body, a dog-like head, and four webbed feet..." (flippers- webbed feet) which causes them to have an ackward waddle when on land.

All sea mammals breathe air and many genuses can maneuver on land; however the whale cannot survive on land, hence the term "Beached Whale"; this is on account of their massive weight which essentially suffocates them. In other words, they suffocate on land since in water the water pressure is constant and they are able to exhale and inhale (This has to do with Bernoulli's Law on pressure.)(NB I may need to change this part.) The flippers of the whale can be equated to arms in the human (or the forpaws of dogs, etc.)Although they are (as mentioned) a tourist attraction in California, they are in many cultures hunted for their "Blubber", their bones, thus putting some species on the endangered list.The same is true of seals which are also hunted in certain areas. Seals are very friendly and intelligent; they are a common inhabitant of large aquariums ("SeaWorld").A variety of the seal is the Sea Lion and the Sea Elephant

The Sea Lion is a variety of "Eared" seal (Seals can be divided depending on whether or not they are eared)The Sea Lion is often mistakedly referred to as a seal. They can be more aggressive (especially the males) but they also are intelligent and often can be seen at public aquariums.

A very fascinating species of the seal is the Sea Elephant . These are enourmous mammals. The male Sea Elephant has a "proboscis" (a trunk) which is the size of a small seal! ...And that is just the nose, so you can only imagine the large size these creatures attain.(F.Y.I. Killer Whales are a type of whale, however the "whale Shark" is a very placid species of shark (that only eats plankton))

Of course there were Dolphins and Porpoises but to write about these fascinating sea mammals would take an entire book to do them justice...

This is a rather poor rendition of a kelp forest; however it does (hopefully) illustrate the extremely long "stems"."Kelp" is defined as a type of Seaweed or algae. It is very common off of the California coast.

A kelp forest can be very dangerous to the S.C.U.B.A. diver in that the very massive and long stems tend to entangle the diver.Kelp can grow up to 1500 feet (?meters?)The illustration is meant to depict the "floats" that are air-filled "vescicles".The kelp plant is firmly anchored on the ocean floor.

In many countries Kelp (or dried Seaweed) is eaten for example,with sushi!Also byproducts of the plant are often used as a gelatin like base (Agar)

Kelp was often found washed ashore on the California beaches.

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The beaches off the coast of California were much more rugged and rough. The rocks had jagged edges; and some beaches were made entirely of Pebbles!

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A major attraction of the California seashore are the numerous "Tide Pools" A tide pool consists of sea-life that is able to survive with little water while the tide is low; when the tide is high again these creatures receive their vital water supply.The common organisms that inhabit tidepools are starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones, and crabs, and a number of molluscs. The following is supposed to depict some of these creatures.

The sharp contrast to the peacful beaches of the West Indies was mostly due to the action of the waves being much more powerful off the Pacific.(Pebble Beach)

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