Naples Reef is a

fringing reef A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reef. It is distinguished from the other main types, barrier reefs and atolls, in that it has either an entirely shallow backreef zone (lagoon) or none at all. If a fringing reef grows direc ...

located off the Gaviota Coast of

Santa Barbara County, California Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. It is an underwater pinnacle and cave system that is a popular

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

and fishing area. There are fishing restrictions in place, however recreational take by spearfishing of

white seabass White seabass or white weakfish, ''Atractoscion nobilis'', is a species of croaker occurring from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to Juneau, Alaska. They usually travel in schools over deep rocky bottoms (0–122 m) and in and out of kelp beds. ...

and pelagic finfish is allowed.Southern California Marine Protected Areas
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Ecology

Naples Reef is a rich, productive habitat, with anemone-covered underwater walls rising 30-feet from the sea floor and a kelp forest that supports various fish and wildlife.

White seabass White seabass or white weakfish, ''Atractoscion nobilis'', is a species of croaker occurring from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to Juneau, Alaska. They usually travel in schools over deep rocky bottoms (0–122 m) and in and out of kelp beds. ...

kelp bass ''Paralabrax clathratus'', the kelp bass, bull bass or calico bass, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea bass from the subfamily Serraninae, classified as part of the family Serranidae which includes the groupers and anthias. It is found ...

, rockfish, colorful nudibranchs, red gorgonians,

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

s and a variety of

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

and

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

s all share the reef. This coastal area is home to many threatened and endangered animals such as the steelhead trout, the tidewater goby, the

white-tailed kite The white-tailed kite (''Elanus leucurus'') is a small raptor found in western North America and parts of South America. It replaces the related Old World black-winged kite in its native range. Taxonomy The white-tailed kite was described in 18 ...

, and the

red-legged frog Red-legged frog is a common name for several species of frog: * California red-legged frog, ''Rana draytonii'', a frog endemic to California, United States * La Selle red-legged frog, ''Eleutherodactylus furcyensis'', a frog found in the Dominican ...

.{{cite web , last1=Rowntree , first1=Jonny , date=December 22, 2013 , title=Off the Beaten Path: Diving in the Less Known Locations in California , url=http://californiadiver.com/off-the-beaten-path-diving-in-the-less-known-locations-in-california/ , website=California Diver

Environmental concerns

Naples reef faces a variety of threats including overfishing, coastal development and climate change. It is one of the most biologically productive locations in all of Southern California and despite being a mainland reef, it is ecologically more connected to the northern

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. Naples State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...

that protects Naples Reef which is about three-quarters of a mile offshore along the middle of the pristine and rural Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County on California’s south coast. The SMCA covers 2.58 square miles. The MPAs protects marine life by limiting the removal of wildlife from within its borders.

Cultural concerns

The area has immense historic and cultural importance for local Native American tribes. The federally recognized tribe of

Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Chumash, an indigenous people of California, in Santa Barbara.Pritzker 122 Their name for themselves is Samala. The locality of Santa Ynez is referred to as ''� ...

is exempt from fish take regulations but shall comply with all other existing regulations and statutes. The

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

has declared the adjacent undeveloped coastline "globally significant".

References

Landforms of Santa Barbara County, California Reefs of California

Ecology

Environmental concerns

Cultural concerns

See also

References