I love to find small offshore reefs that offer plenty of photo opportunities that are also shallow enough to give us time to find subjects. The southwest corner of the Palos Verdes Peninsula has many such reefs. I wanted to name a reef after our friend Kevin Lee, a World renowned underwater photographer. Using Google Earth, I found a few possibilities. Within a few minutes of diving a reef offshore from Christmas Tree Cove I knew it would become Kevin's Reef. There was some kelp, more than a dozen species of nudibranchs, octopus, sponges, fish, tunicates, and bryozoan everywhere. Tiny Zebra gobies darted in and out of cracks and several Island Kelpfish perched atop the crevice in the center of the reef.

Kevin's Reef is about the size of a small house, allowing enough time to explore the entire reef on a single dive. Rising fifteen feet from the sand at seventy-five feet, the reef has cracks, plateaus, and small peaks covered by hydroids and algae. Tiny crabs, shrimp, and nudibranchs are usually found within them. During lobster season, traps are found surrounding the area so motoring to the site can feel like driving in a minefield. 33° 45.701N 118° 25.537W

• Kevin Lee

• Re: Palos Verdes Dive Site; Kevin's Reef Kevlar 17:16:35 01/08/19 (0)