It is the only San Diego city park without grass, park benches, water fountains and walking paths. In fact, most of those who frequent here sport gills instead of lungs. This unusual place is the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park, which comprises 6,000 acres of submerged lands bordered by Torrey Pines State Park to the north and La Jolla Cove to the south. While taking invertebrates is illegal, fishing is allowed with a license. Within the park are 533 acres designated as a “look but don’t touch” reserve. At just over 1.5 square miles, the La Jolla Ecological Reserve comprises the waters around the Cove, the caves, La Jolla Shores and the La Jolla Submarine Canyon. Five large yellow buoys mark the reserve’s offshore boundaries. Signage by the California Department of Fish and Game clearly states that “No person shall disturb or take any plant, bird, mammal, fish, mollusk, crustacean, reptile or any other form of plant life, marine life, shells, geological formations, or archaeological artifacts…” To clarify, this includes anything and everything, living or not. The kelp bed, like an underwater redwood forest, houses a wealth of life, from tiny larval species to cavorting seals and sea lions. La Jolla’s underwater reserve is special to the coast because it harbors four distinct habitats that may be likened to the Grand Canyon, a redwood forest, a desert and a bouldering area. And as with diverse land environments, the different marine habitats are a haven for diverse life as well. To learn more, follow along on an armchair tour of the reserve. We begin at La Jolla Cove, one of two gateways to the reserve. Likened to a public aquarium, take one step into the drink and you see zebra perch, señorita and opaleye fish, along with lobsters, in depths of no more than 10 feet. The outcropping of rocks and boulders supports a giant salad bowl of attached brown, green and red algae. Verdant surf grass strands do a languid hula in response to the surge. California’s state marine fish, the flamboyant orange garibaldi, stands out, as does its juvenile forms, with their added luminescent electric-blue spots and streaks. Continue out past the Cove to depths of 30 feet to reach the kelp bed. From land, it looks like a brownish surface slick. Made up of California giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), which can grow up to 2 feet per day, the strands may reach more than 100 feet tall in deeper water where its analogy to a towering redwood forest is fully realized. To appreciate a kelp forest’s grandeur, dive down amidst the tangled strands and look up. Swaying gently in the surge, shimmering rays of sunlight bend and splay through the amber fronds. While kelp itself is marine life, a kelp forest is a structural habitat that provides nesting areas, food and places to rest for millions of animals from hundreds of species. Look on or near any part of the kelp and there is life. Harbor seals, the occasional 100-pound giant sea bass, bat rays and schools of anchovies, barracuda and señoritas school, hover or weave through the forest. At its base, kelp is anchored by a holdfast, a complex maze of rootlike matter that binds itself to a rock or boulder. The holdfast houses a menagerie of small animals, like brittle seastars and insectlike isopods. The ocean floor sheltered by the kelp forest crawls with crabs, sea hares and knobby sea stars. Across the bay from the Cove is La Jolla Shores, a mile-long beach and the reserve’s other gateway. Underwater topography here comprises shallow, ripply sand bottom. At first glance, this habitat looks like a desert wasteland but instead is flush with life, albeit more subtle than the dramatic displays found in the Cove and kelp forest. Find pipefish camouflaged in tufts of sea lettuce, sea pansies, sea pens and sand dollars for starters. During summer, see large groups of leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) congregating along the surf zone in depths of 3 to 7 feet, often at the southern end of La Jolla Shores off the Marine Room. Though little studied, these may be mostly females preparing to give birth. Generally 5 to 6 feet long, a leopard shark’s gray body is adorned with thick black, elongated spots that drape over its back and sides. No need to worry about being confused for bait because a leopard shark’s dinner bell only chimes for clams, octopi, crabs, spiny lobsters and bony fish. For best viewing, snorkel or float on the surface, as scuba tank bubbles terrify the shy creatures. Look for shovelnose guitarfish, called sand sharks, which cohabitate with the leopards. The La Jolla Submarine Canyon plunges to nearly 1,000 feet deep and so is mostly off-limits to humans. However, scuba divers can investigate the numerous terraced ledges found at depths of about 50 to 85 feet, which harbor most of the canyon’s marine life. To access the canyon, enter the water at La Jolla Shores. Swim west several hundred yards, after which the sandy bottom drifts downward, and you experience a sharp drop-off, signaling the canyon’s entrance. If you journey along the edge of the canyon, you will pass over gently sloping areas, gullies, steep cliffs and wide valleys. Oddly named and odd-looking creatures like sarcastic fringehead fish, fairy hydroids, giant sheepcrabs, scarlet gorgonian fans and vermillion rockfish are some regular denizens of the canyon but extraordinary creatures periodically emerge from the inky depths. The return of myriad market squid, Loligo opalescens, to spawn presents a breathtaking show. In some years, the canyon supports a football field of the squids’ cigar-shaped white egg capsules, transforming the mud bottom into a winter snow scene. The La Jolla Ecological Reserve is invaluable because it affords protection to marine life dwelling within four distinctive landscapes, safeguards the area’s fragile ecology and preserves the natural beauty of the shoreline. Whether you swim, snorkel or scuba dive, you can directly experience at least a part of this unique city park. Only a stone’s throw from shore, simply don a face mask, and discover a submerged wonderland of unparalleled beauty you otherwise could not imagine exists. Judith Lea Garfield, biologist and underwater photographer, has authored two natural history books about the underwater park off La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores. www.judith.garfield.org. Questions, comments or suggestions? Email [email protected].