Carmel Pinnacles State Marine Reserve (SMR) is a

marine protected area A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity ...

in Carmel Bay including a unique underwater pinnacle formation with adjacent

kelp forest Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on E ...

, submarine canyon head, and surfgrass. Carmel Bay is adjacent to the city of

Carmel-by-the-Sea Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 at the 2010 census. Situa ...

and is near

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, on California's central coast.

History

Carmel Pinnacles SMR was established in September 2007 by the

California Department of Fish & Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...

. It was one of 29 marine protected areas adopted during the first phase of the

Marine Life Protection Act The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) was passed in 1999 and is part of the California Fish and Game Code. The MLPA requires California to reevaluate all existing marine protected areas (MPAs) and potentially design new MPAs that together form ...

Initiative. The Marine Life Protection Act Initiative (or MLPAI) is a collaborative public process to create a statewide network of marine protected areas along the California coastline. This marine protected area covers .53 square miles bounded by the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed: * 36° 33.65’ N. lat. 121° 57.60’ W. long.; * 36° 33.65’ N. lat. 121° 58.50’ W. long.; * 36° 33.10’ N. lat. 121° 58.50’ W. long.; * 36° 33.10’ N. lat. 121° 57.60’ W. long.; and * 36° 33.65’ N. lat. 121° 57.60’ W. long.

Scientific monitoring

As specified by the Marine Life Protection Act, select marine protected areas along California's central coast are being monitored by scientists to track their effectiveness and learn more about ocean health. Similar studies in marine protected areas located off of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands have already detected gradual improvements in fish size and number.Castell, Jenn, et al.
How do patterns of abundance and size structure differ between fished and unfished waters in the Channel Islands? Results from SCUBA surveys
". Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) at University of California, Santa Barbara and University of California, Santa Cruz; Channel Islands National Park. Retrieved December 18, 2008. The SMR protects all

marine life Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, aquatic plant, plants, algae, marine fungi, fungi, marine protists, protists, single-celled marine microorganisms, microorganisms ...

within its boundaries. Fishing and take of all living marine resources is prohibited. Local scientific and educational institutions involved in the monitoring include Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, University of California Santa Cruz, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Research methods include hook-and-line sampling, intertidal and scuba diver surveys, and the use of Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) submarines.

References

External links

California's MPAsMarine Life Protection Act Initiative

CalOceansCarmel-By-The-SeaMonterey Bay Aquarium
{{authority control Marine sanctuaries in California Carmel-by-the-Sea, California California Department of Fish and Wildlife areas California State Reserves Protected areas of Monterey County, California