The San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park is the historical name for a marine reserve that includes the San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR), adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from La Jolla in San Diego County on California's south coast.
The underwater park originally spanned 6,000 acres (24 km2) of ocean bottom and tidelands, including La Jolla Cove. With four distinct habitats (rocky reef, kelp bed, sand flats, and submarine canyon), the area remains a popular destination for snorkelers and scuba divers. [1]
The origins of the park date back to 1929 when the state of California set aside a "marine life refuge" to protect the submerged and intertidal area near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 1957, the nearshore area became part of the San Diego Marine Life Refuge. [2]
Environmental activism led to the establishment of the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park. The project was spearheaded by the San Diego Council of Divers, led by Harold F. Riley, to protect marine resources threatened by over-fishing. Conrad F. Limbaugh of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography supported the idea. [3] Members of La Jolla's Bottom Scratchers Dive Club, est. 1933, also played a significant role. [4] [5]
In 1970, the City of San Diego incorporated the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park as part of a city-operated park that stretched more than 2-miles offshore. Responsibility for maintenance was to be shared by the City of San Diego's Department of Parks and Recreation and the California Department of Fish and Game. A 514-acre ecological reserve and marine life refuge was created at the same time, known as the "Look, Don't Touch Ecological Reserve." [6] In 1981, the San Diego City Council extended the boundaries of the ecological reserve to include La Jolla Cove. [7]
In 1978, Dr. Bert Kobayashi designed and implemented a survey of the Ecological Reserve, funded by the California State Water Resources Control Board, that detailed the topography and marine life of the area. [7] [8] The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has documented the area thoroughly.
The passage of the Marine Life Management Act in 1998 led to the establishment of San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR) as part of the southern region of California's network of Marine Protected Areas.
The submarine canyons of La Jolla and Scripps Canyons are spectacular dive sites, with steep walls that plummet from 70 to 900 feet deep. Many consider the dives here among the best in Southern California. [9]
The beach is approximately one mile (1.6 km) long and stretches from the sea cliffs just north of La Jolla Cove to Black's Beach south of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. La Jolla Shores meets the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and Kellogg Park and encompasses the Scripps Pier. The southern end of the beach is especially rich with wildlife. During certain times of year, leopard sharks, diamond stingrays, round stingrays, and species of guitarfish are common. Green sea turtles and broadnose sevengill sharks are elusive but can be found farther offshore.
La Jolla Cove is part of the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve that covers just over one square mile from shore to depths greater than 330 feet, protecting a mix of sandy beaches, rocky intertidal areas, surfgrass beds, rocky reefs, sea caves, and submarine canyon habitat.
The La Jolla sea caves, formerly known as the Mammoth Caves, have been a major tourist attractions since the late 1800s. Located east of the La Jolla Cove, the seven sea caves were naturally sculpted into the base of a 75-million-year-old sandstone sea cliff. At low tide the caves are accessible from the ocean, but only one (Sunny Jim's Sea Cave), is accessible from land. Visitors can enter Sunny Jim Cave via a tunnel which was dug in the early 1900s from the historical landmark, The Cave Store, located on the cliff above on Cave Street. [10]
Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve: It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource. California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 632(b)(142)
San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area: It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource, EXCEPT: Recreational take of coastal pelagic species except market squid (northern anchovy, Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel, and jack mackerel), by hook-and-line only is allowed. California Code of Regulations Title 141, Section 632(b)(14)
Highlights of the Ecological Reserve, ca. 1994, now the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR). [7]
A Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla, located at Kellogg Park in La Jolla Shores, was opened to the public in October 2020. The 2,200-square-foot mosaic map, embedded in the ground, shows more than 100 life-size images of creatures found just offshore. Significant underwater canyons are indicated by varying shades of blue to mark ocean depths. The mosaic was made using a process called LithoMosaic. The project was sponsored by the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans, among other community groups. [11]
In 2023, a 4-000 lb. bronze topographic map of the La Jolla Canyon was installed at Kellogg Park in La Jolla, titled “From the Heights of Mount Soledad to the Depths of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla.” [12]
La Jolla is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying 7 miles (11 km) of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature of 70.5 °F (21.4 °C).
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma.
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Scripps Canyon is a narrow submarine canyon in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Southern California, United States. The canyon is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) long and joins La Jolla Canyon offshore.
Point Lobos and the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is a state park in California. Adjoining Point Lobos is "one of the richest marine habitats in California." The ocean habitat is protected by two marine protected areas, the Point Lobos State Marine Reserve and Point Lobos State Marine Conservation Area. The sea near Point Lobos is considered one of the best locations for scuba diving on the Monterey Peninsula and along the California coast.
Birch Aquarium is a public aquarium in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, California. It serves as the public outreach center for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, with over half a million people visiting the aquarium each year.
La Jolla Cove is a small cove with a beach that is surrounded by cliffs in La Jolla, a community of San Diego, California. Point La Jolla forms the south side of the cove. The area is protected as part of a marine reserve and is popular with snorkelers, swimmers and scuba divers.
La Jolla Shores, with its northern part Scripps Beach, is a beach and vacation/residential community of the same name in the community of La Jolla in San Diego, California. The La Jolla Shores business district is a mixed-use village encircling Laureate Park on Avenida de la Playa in the village of La Jolla Shores.
Gerstle Cove State Marine Reserve (SMR) is a marine protected area that lies onshore from Salt Point State Park, within the Salt Point State Marine Conservation Area, in Sonoma County on California’s north central coast. The marine protected area covers 0.1 square miles. Gerstle Cove SMR prohibits the take of all living resources.
Wheeler James North, born in San Francisco, California, was a marine biologist and environmental scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the California Institute of Technology. He is best known for his pioneering work to understand the ecology of California’s coastal kelp forests, and pioneering work in biomass fuels and the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Carmel Pinnacles State Marine Reserve (SMR) is a marine protected area in Carmel Bay including a unique underwater pinnacle formation with adjacent kelp forest, submarine canyon head, and surfgrass. Carmel Bay is adjacent to the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea and is near Monterey, on California's central coast.
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San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR) are adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from La Jolla in San Diego County on California's south coast. The two marine protected areas cover 2.51 square miles (6.5 km2).
South La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and South La Jolla State Marine Reserve (SMR) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore in San Diego County on California's south coast. The two marine protected areas cover 7.51 square miles (19.5 km2). The SMR protects marine life by prohibiting the removal of marine wildlife from within its borders, while the SMCA limits removal of marine wildlife.
Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve (SMR) and Laguna Beach State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore of Laguna Beach in Orange County on California’s south coast. The SMR covers 6.27 square miles, and the SMCA covers an additional 3.44 square miles. These two MPAs are part of a four-MPA complex on the coast of southern Orange County. Each protects marine life by prohibiting or limiting the removal of marine wildlife from within its borders.
Scripps Coastal Reserve is a 126-acre University of California Natural Reserve System reserve located west of UC San Diego in the La Jolla Farms area of La Jolla, California. Administered by UC San Diego, the site is owned by the University of California and managed for teaching and research.
The Anacapa Island State Marine Reserve (SMR) is a protected marine reserve located off the coast of Southern California, encompassing the area of water immediately north of Anacapa Island. Established to safeguard the marine ecosystems and biodiversity of the region, the reserve is one of the thirteen Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of the larger Channel Islands National Park network.
Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Park, often referred to as Scripps Park, is an urban park in La Jolla, a community in San Diego, California. The park is sited on a sandstone bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is 5.6 acres (2.3 ha) and has approximately 1,500 ft (460 m) of shoreline and includes La Jolla Cove, Point La Jolla, Boomer Beach, and Shell Beach. The La Jolla Adult Recreation Center, three historic belvederes, and a pavilion are the only buildings in the park.
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