Posted by Jason on December 08, 2000 at 18:22:10:
In Reply to: Diving Deep... posted by mattschechter on December 07, 2000 at 08:48:10:
Matt- while life tends to be most prolific near
the light, there are many things that only are found
deeper, sometimes much deeper.
California hydrocoral generally isn't found shallower
than 60 or 80 feet. Going deeper, it tends to get better.
The metridium anemonie isn't found much shallower than 50ft
in Monterey. Off one of the oil platforms in LA, I needed
to go to 140ft to see them. Above that the scallops
ran the show.
Deeper sites also tend to filter out diving pressure,
so the reefs are in better shape. It also suffers less
from the strong effects of ocean swells.