cadiverguy
Registered
Otto Gasser is posting his diving logs on his blog. Here's an excerpt from one of his first posts. A map to the first of these quarry rock pile site dive sites is posted on Otto's blog page (ottogasser.com/blog).
Santa Monica Bay Diving Log: The Quarry Rock Pile Sites
I know of four of these, but there may be more. These rock piles were all deposited when breakwaters were being built outside the Santa Monica Pier and Marina Del Rey Harbor. That was a long time ago. Rock was quarried at Santa Catalina Island and barged across to Santa Monica Bay. During stormy seas a barge might sink or be forced to dump its load at sea. Since these were moored outside their working areas at the time, thats where they were turned into underwater structures. Later these were rediscovered as good places to fish and dive on. Two are located just outside of Marina Del Rey, and two are located near the Santa Monica breakwater. Im pretty sure that three of the four were accidentally created, but one is in much deeper water, and may have been dumped on purpose to create a structure for a sport fishing barge. Im not completely sure of how they got there, but I do know where they are, and that theyre great places to fish and dive. Local sport fishing boats regularly visit at least two of these sites, maybe three. All of these structures are small, twenty to forty feet across, and all are somewhat roundish in shape. They are covered in gorgonians and serve as a home to large populations of sand bass, sculpin, rockfish, and other finny creatures. Halibut like to hang out in the sand next to the rocks to feed on some of the smaller aquatic animals there.
Santa Monica Bay Diving Log: The Quarry Rock Pile Sites
I know of four of these, but there may be more. These rock piles were all deposited when breakwaters were being built outside the Santa Monica Pier and Marina Del Rey Harbor. That was a long time ago. Rock was quarried at Santa Catalina Island and barged across to Santa Monica Bay. During stormy seas a barge might sink or be forced to dump its load at sea. Since these were moored outside their working areas at the time, thats where they were turned into underwater structures. Later these were rediscovered as good places to fish and dive on. Two are located just outside of Marina Del Rey, and two are located near the Santa Monica breakwater. Im pretty sure that three of the four were accidentally created, but one is in much deeper water, and may have been dumped on purpose to create a structure for a sport fishing barge. Im not completely sure of how they got there, but I do know where they are, and that theyre great places to fish and dive. Local sport fishing boats regularly visit at least two of these sites, maybe three. All of these structures are small, twenty to forty feet across, and all are somewhat roundish in shape. They are covered in gorgonians and serve as a home to large populations of sand bass, sculpin, rockfish, and other finny creatures. Halibut like to hang out in the sand next to the rocks to feed on some of the smaller aquatic animals there.
