Travel, Explore & Dive! The Palos Verdes, Harbor Seals By Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green
Travel, Explore & Dive! The Palos Verdes, Harbor Seals
By Andre Navarro of Ocean Earth Green
I approached Flat Rock through the cold soothing water with several curious and cute Harbor Seals following from below and behind. At a distance, I had their attention as I called out and talked to them happily as an animal lover would to a favorite dog or cat. As their curiosity over powered their fear and natural cautiousness, the bravest began to approach. First by circling and swimming under me closer and closer. Then after several hours, they began to swim right up to me within feet and occasionally physically contacting me.
Yes, I'm back at my favorite Harbor Seal haul out spot, Flat Rock of the beautiful Palos Verdes Estates at Bluff Cove ! The connection I feel with ocean life here is very unique and fills my heart with motivation and love. The surreal and gorgeous underwater views make me feel like I'm on another planet. Living close to the coast, we all know what the ocean looks like from above. But few get to experience the amazing underwater world first hand and close up. This is why I create ocean life adventure videos to connect viewers to our amazing underwater world to motivate greater conservation and ocean life awareness.
The scenery at Flat Rock Point below the towering cliffs and over the rocky reefs is heavenly in every direction. The above surface world disappears as I dive down and swim out through the shallow rocks and waves and gives way to an amazing underwater world filled with life and beautiful terrain. The ocean along Malaga Cove to Bluff Cove is lush with thick and healthy Kelp forests. Every surface that can support life is covered in Algae Seaweeds creating the perfect habitat for the many fish, sharks and harbor seals that inhabit this area.
Did he say SHARKS !? Yes I did. However, unlike the mainstream media portrays local sharks as all Great Whites about to eat everyone at any second, this is not reality. The most common Sharks to the Palos Verdes Estates shores are Horn Sharks. Followed by occasional Leopard Sharks and Tope School Sharks. Tope School Sharks hang out in thick Kelp Forests and can bite humans but rarely do. Horn Sharks and Leopard Sharks do not bite humans. However, Horn Sharks like their name suggest, have horns for self defense. Two to be precise. So if you ever come across one, don't try to pick them up or hug them. Other than that, they are very peaceful and calm. Usually found laying at the bottom of the Kelp Forest or in between reef rocks sleeping or relaxing.
Then there are the amazing Kelp Forests surrounding this entire area. It's a special privilege to swim along the bottom and watch the sun glimmering through the long kelp. It's a surreal view I never get tired of and makes my imagination tingle. All through the Kelp Forest I come across the cute Harbor Seals as well, sometimes surprising them as they are not expecting a human to be at the bottom of the Kelp Forest swimming around them. And then there is the extreme fun of actually swimming with them through the Kelp once they have accepted my presence.
This is just a brief glimpse of the amazing ocean life along the Palos Verdes Estates shores. Enjoy the accompanying video with footage of all the above mentioned filled with Horn Sharks, Kelp Forests and cute and curious Harbor Seals making contact and swimming with me.
Andre Navarro
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.
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