SS Dominator and Kelp Adventure at Rocky Point, Palos Verdes By Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green
SS Dominator and Kelp Adventure at Rocky Point, Palos Verdes
By Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green.
Recently on Thursday 7-1-2021 I was invited by a fun group of local freedivers to accompany them to the SS Dominator Wreckage off Rocky Point, along the beautiful Palos Verdes Estates. We were in high hopes for favorable diving conditions which are hard to tell until we reach the destination. What we ended up in was a murky kelp filled adventure of motivation and determination.
We cautiously hiked down the steep cliffs by the northern trail of Lunada Bay. We continued along the rocky shore north for about ½ mile. This alone is a decent workout, especially coming back up ! As we arrived at our entry point among the on shore remnants of the SS Dominator shore wreckage, we realized the waves were much larger and frequent than we anticipated. It was extremely low tide with 3' to 4' waves constantly breaking on the field of shallow exposed rocks.
We slowly made our way rock to rock until we were in shallow water where we started out by crawling over and around the shallow rocks as the waves were breaking on us. After we got about 40' feet out, the water was finally deep enough to swim out quicker. Surprisingly, there was so much kelp and algae growth along the shore and entire area. Super thick and dense fields of kelp everywhere. I haven't seen it this abundant in years which I'm hoping is a good sign for local ocean life conditions.
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds. By definition, this makes them not plants. There are about 30 different types making up the order Laminariales. The most common types are the ones everyone sees floating near shore in yellow brown canopies. These are the genera Macrocystis and Nereocystis which can grow up to a foot and a half per day. These kelp grow in patches and in the current local condition, in huge dense forests.
Kelp forests have high production biodiversity and ecological functions. They support large number of animals including sponges, urchins, sea slugs, crabs, lobsters, fish, harbor seals along with other diverse algae. All these animals use the kelp for shelter, structure and food gathering. These are also great locations to observe and appreciate ocean life with gorgeous underwater views. Well, when the conditions are clear.
This day, the water was extremely murky. Only 4' to 6' visibility at most which is hard to see anything in, even when you are right next to something. But we were already there. We already committed to going out. So we made the best of it. We explored and swam through the large section of the ship right off shore along with exploring the kelp which surrounded us. Several times I got tangled In the kelp, once even about 15' down which was sort of scary except the kelp gives slowly and can be untangled as long as one doesn't panic.
After a couple hours of exploring the murky kelp forests and ship wreckage, we called it a day. We made that hike back over the shore rocks and up the cliffs, tired, beat and hungry ! Not all adventures have perfect conditions or endings. But the challenge along with overcoming of difficulties to complete a goal, especially in an amazing underwater world always results in an epic adventure long remembered with friends.
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I am Andre Navarro, Southern California adventurer and freediver. I was born in San Pedro California and grew up in Long Beach California where I graduated Millikan HS class of 93 and attended Long Beach City College for Art, Drawing and Painting. After obtaining an Associates Degree for Art and a semester away from transferring to Cal State Long Beach to continue in Art, I joined the LA County Sheriff's Department as a Custody Assistant (County Jail Guard). Approximately a year later I promoted to Sheriff Deputy where I worked custody and patrol assignments. After working law enforcement for roughly 9 years and having a son and daughter during this time, I came to the hard decision that long term this career was not for me. Shortly after ending the law enforcement chapter in my life, I began a new one in industrial machinery and conveyor belting distribution where I worked for 14 years in several positions including: fabrication and installation, purchasing, business development and sales management .
Recently in June of 2019, I left this position for another major direction change in my life. During my management years, I was sent to Mexico and the Ukraine to help recruit and train international employees. This is where I fell in love with traveling and experiencing different cultures. And this is also when I began freediving exotic locations on the weekends. I have always loved being in the ocean since a child and began bodyboarding young. Way later I began snorkeling on the downtime when there were no waves. This morphed into freediving which I do today. I also love to hike, camp and explore. In the last 3 years I began making videos of my explorations on land and now mostly in freediving. After leaving my last job of 14 years, I made the decision to spend approximately 1 year traveling, diving and making videos of my adventures while trying to figure out a possible way of making a living at this. I have realized there is an immediate and important need for ocean conservation and education while there is a major lack of understanding about our local coasts, ocean and it's life. Through my videos, my goal is to take everyone with me over land, air and into the ocean to experience all its beauty, life and importance.