Southern California Expeditions 2024 - Oceana USA

Southern California Expeditions 2024

Protecting Ocean Biodiversity

Oceana embarked on a series of science expeditions to explore and document ocean biodiversity and vulnerable species off Southern California. Characterizing this biodiversity and identifying important ecological areas will enable us to better protect this special ecosystem and the marine life that makes these ocean waters globally important. These scientific efforts are in support of Oceana’s campaign to reduce the entanglement of ocean animals in set gillnet fishing gear that is currently used off Southern California.

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Overview

Southern California boasts undersea geological features unlike any others found off the U.S. West Coast, marked by a series of faults, banks, deep basins, islands, and underwater mountains. This complex seascape sits at the confluence of warm sub-tropical waters and cold nutrient-rich waters that upwell from the deep, which combined help make this region an epicenter of biodiversity, sometimes referred to as the “Galapagos of North America”.

These ocean waters include migratory routes and feeding destinations for endangered humpback whales; nurseries for great white sharks; breeding and foraging habitats for California sea lions, brown pelicans, and giant seabass; gardens of colorful deep-sea corals; and dense canopies of giant kelp forests.

Oceana—in partnership with prestigious Swiss watchmaker, Blancpain — dove into the cold Pacific waters surrounding the Northern Channel Islands, west of Los Angeles and adjacent to Santa Barbara County, to explore the region’s ocean life and supporting habitats. Our spring and fall expeditions in 2024 focused on four of the eight Channel Islands—Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Santa Rosa Islands— supporting Oceana’s campaigns to restore ocean abundance and Blancpain’s commitment to ocean exploration and conservation.

The expedition team conducted visual scuba diving surveys to quantify and identify species and habitats — including thousands of fish, invertebrates, habitat forming corals, and giant kelp — providing a detailed look into the biodiversity at risk. State-of-the-art cameras captured high-resolution images and videos of rare and unusual species and habitats in need of additional protection. The expedition team collected water samples at 27 sites that are being DNA sequenced in a lab using environmental DNA (eDNA) methods to identify virtually all ocean life inhabiting and traversing these waters. Comparing traditional scuba diving observations with eDNA analysis across the shallow nearshore and deeper offshore environments will help provide a comprehensive assessment of the region’s biodiversity. Plus, successful piloting of a hybrid underwater vehicle FUSION demonstrated the promise of this technology to provide data and information for ocean conservation, such as producing high resolution side-scan sonar maps of rocky reefs and identifying precise GPS locations of lost fishing gear. Oceana divers also deployed 360 cameras at our various dive sites providing an immersive viewing experience of being in the middle of a giant kelp forest. [Viewing tips: on a desktop PC, use the mouse to pan and look around. On a mobile device, either use your finger to pan and look around or directly point the device to where you want to look. For a full 360 immersive experience, use VR goggles or download the Google Cardboard app from the Apple Store or Android Play Store or use Google cardboard glasses to navigate as if immersed in the water seeing the environment firsthand].

We will conduct a third expedition in 2025 to build off the data and information we collected in 2024.

These expeditions allow us to document and characterize the vast array of California’s renowned marine life in support of our campaign to reduce the entanglement of ocean animals in set gillnet fishing gear. These fishing nets used to catch California halibut and white seabass off Southern California can be over a mile long—up to 20 football fields—and are one of the most indiscriminate fishing gears used in the United States. These nets are among the greatest threats to the recovery of previously overexploited species such as great white sharks, giant seabass, and tope sharks. Our research is highlighting the marine life at risk from entanglement, and what we must safeguard to keep our oceans abundant and resilient in the face of climate change and unprecedented human stressors.

Areas around the Northern Channel Islands open to set gillnets © Oceana

A previous Oceana expedition in the Channel Islands region in 2016 focused on documenting deep-sea corals and other fragile seafloor habitats with remotely operated vehicles. Our advocacy resulted in permanent protections for more than 16,000 square miles of ocean off Southern California including coral gardens, sponge beds, rocky reefs, and other seafloor structures from bottom trawling—the most damaging fishing gear to seafloor habitats. Some of the “best of the best” areas we identified such as West Santa Barbara Island gained even greater permanent protections from all groundfish fishing gears.

Blancpain’s connection to ocean exploration began in 1953 with the launch of the first true diver’s watch, the Fifty Fathoms, which Oceana divers had a chance to wear during our dive surveys. To date, Blancpain has financed dozens of major scientific expeditions and presented several award-winning documentary films, underwater photography exhibitions, and publications. Celebrating its role in extending the coverage of marine protected areas globally, Blancpain has contributed with the addition of more than 4.7 million km2, including the new Bajos del Norte Marine Protected Area off Mexico. This dedication to supporting ocean exploration and preservation is called Blancpain Ocean Commitment.

 

 

  • Surveying fish and habitats
  • Documenting corals
  • Coral and garibaldi off Santa Cruz Island
  • Corals off Anacapa
  • Horn shark nestled between two rocks
  • Painted greenling and red gorgonian coral
  • Red gorgonian coral and sea stars
  • Sand dollars off Santa Cruz Island
  • Sea star and coral off Santa Cruz Island
  • Sheep crab off Santa Cruz Island
  • Predatory sea slug off Santa Cruz Island
  • Recording ocean biodiversity
  • Brown gorgonian coral off Santa Cruz Island
  • Island kelpfish off Santa Cruz Island
  • Spanish shawl nudibranch
  • Strawberry anemones
  • Brittle stars in a kelp forest
  • Golden gorgonian coral and kelp sand bass
  • Harbor seal

The Crew

Ashley Blacow-Draeger

Pacific Policy and Communications Manager

Ben Enticknap

Pacific Campaign Director and Senior Scientist

Caitlynn Birch

Pacific Marine Scientist

Geoff Shester

California Campaign Director

Jamie Karnik

Pacific Communications Manager

Susan Murray

Deputy Vice President, U.S. Pacific Executive Commitee

Tara Brock

Pacific Legal Director and Senior Counsel

In the News

Press Releases

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around the Web

September 13, 2024

Ocean advocacy organization wraps up second research expedition in the Channel Islands this year

Source: KCLU: NPR for the Central Coast

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October 28, 2024

Channeling Science In The Wild Pacific: Notes from a diving expedition with Oceana and Blancpain

Source: Hodinkee

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September 19, 2024

Deep dives near CA’s southern islands aim to show harm from gillnet fishing

Source: California Public News Service

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September 16, 2024

Fabulous Flailing “Spanish Shawl” Sea Slug Spotted On Marine Expedition In California

Source: IFL Science

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September 16, 2024

Oceana & Blancpain Team Up to Protect California’s Channel Islands from Harmful Gillnet Fishing

Source: KEYT-TV (Santa Barbara)

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FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Plastic Pollution

Oceana campaigns to stop plastic pollution at the source — by working to pass local, state, and national policies that reduce the production and use of unnecessary single-use plastic and move toward refill and reuse systems.

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CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS

Ending the Shark Fin Trade

Protecting Ocean Habitats

Responsible Fishing

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