cadivingnews.com — Artificial reefs are nothing new to Southern California, but the Wheeler North Reef in San Clemente raises the bar in terms of its size and scope. Named after Wheeler J. North, a noted marine biologist who studied California’s coastal kelp forests, its creation stems from a 1989 Marine Review Committee report that found the cloudy water discharged by the San Onofre [...]

scubadiving.com — While the passage of two California laws have helped clear a path to bring the USS Kawishiwi – a decommissioned 655‐ foot Neosho-class fleet oiler ‐ closer to becoming an artificial reef outside the Dana Point Harbor in Southern California, a spokesperson for the project said it could take a minimum of two years before the vessel is sunk. Former Dana Point mayor [...]

cadivingnews.com — Five years after the 58-foot, steel-hulled A.C.E. drum seiner sank off the coast of San Clemente, a team of divers from Beach Cities Scuba (BCS) recently located it and prepared the site for recreational diving. Now buoyed about five miles south of the Dana Point Harbor, the A.C.E. offers divers an opportunity to explore a new wreck that’s roughly halfway between [...]

Image courtesy of reefcheck.org. cadivingnews.com — Over the years, numerous efforts to monitor California’s marine resources have been made by government, academic, private, and nonprofit institutions. Since most groups use different methods, focus on different target species, and have different data reporting formats, it was virtually impossible to perform statewide analyses. As a result, the snapshot of California’s rocky reef ecosystems [...]