KELP, CORMORANTS AND GARIBALDIS

Out of curiosity, I flew (commercial) 3318 km and took a boat another 140 km to dive in a kelp forest. For us used to the coral habitat, very strange, indeed! The habitat unit is the kelp, a kind of aquatic plant that takes root in the bottom of the sea and “floats” its branches and “leaves” up to the sea surface, sometimes more than a hundred feet, with the aid of air cells built-in in the plant. This dense forest becomes the habitat of surprisingly diverse form of life.

The Garibaldis, State Fish of California, are the most abundant inhabitants of the kelp habitat. It provides the basic color of bright yellow. All other colors are contrasted off the yellow of the Garibladis – angel sharks, rays, other common fishes, and a host of invertebrates.

One time, when Lynn (my daughter, a physician practicing in California) and I were at 60 feet, I was startled by an unusually fast swimmer, leaving a trail of tiny air bubbles. Being underwater and a bit narcd, it took me a while to realize that the animal was a cormorant, a diving bird.

All you macho divers of Mactan, Moalboal, Malapascua, Balicasag and Panglao…I bet you’ve never seen that one! (He!He!).

Where in the world is Doc Amores?

Catalina Island in the Pacific, off the California Coast