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NauticalNickVisibility Report

The Coastal Bulletin

What is happening on Southern California beaches right now. Official notices come from the National Weather Service, county health departments, ocean observing programs, and our own data. Community posts come from divers and swimmers who were standing there.

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Hazard · Hazardous surf · San Diego · Orange County · Los Angeles County · Ventura County · Catalina Island

Strong surge and dangerous surf through Tuesday

Published for Oct 9 · Until Oct 13, 11:59 PM

Very strong surge was reported in the water on October 9, and the National Weather Service rates the rip current risk as high in San Diego and Orange counties. Surf of 3 to 5 feet with sets to 6 feet is expected through Saturday, building to 5 to 8 feet on Sunday as swell from Tropical Storm Rachel arrives, and Los Angeles County expects 4 to 7 feet on Sunday. The Weather Service advises staying out of the water. Visibility on this site reads 0 in the Break Zone and 0 to 5 feet past the break through Tuesday.

Stock photo of The Southern California coast
Stock photo: The Southern California coast
From the editorial sweepSource: National Weather Service San Diego and Los Angeles
Hazard: Strong surge and dangerous surf through TuesdayHazard: State of emergency: California is bracing for a record El Niño winter

Ongoing events

Photo for: Bioluminescence reported in Mission BayOngoing

Mission Bay

Bioluminescence reported in Mission Bay

25 days in a row

Last reported Oct 11

Photo: Mariana Rocha De Souza (San Diego Snorkel Report)

Photo for: Octopus keep turning up at Mission Point Park and La JollaOngoing

Mission Point Park and La Jolla

Octopus keep turning up at Mission Point Park and La Jolla

20 days in a row

Last reported Oct 10, 6:45 AM at Mission Point Park

Photo: Casey Cole

Community posts · San Diego

24 posts in the last 60 days

Sunday, October 11th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Oct 11 · Posted Oct 12 at 12:01 PM

Bioluminescence in mission bay, and fish are the ones playing in it. Credit: @erikjepsen on instagram

Photo 1 of 2 posted with this reportPhoto 2 of 2 posted with this report

Saturday, October 10th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Oct 10 · Posted Oct 11 at 11:48 AM

Bioluminescent fireworms

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Thursday, October 8th

SoCalDiverTrusted Reporter
La Jolla ShoresConditions report
Observed Oct 8 · Posted Oct 9 at 2:52 PM

Beach dive a the shores and went out to the North Wall at about 5:30pm. Visibility was a solid 20ft with an abundance of lobster with several large lobsters in the mix as well as lots of local sheepshead and other species hanging around. Water temp at North Wall was 68 degrees at 78ft. Also hit the secret garden and the water temp dropped slightly to 64 degrees at 100ft.

Wednesday, October 7th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Oct 7 · Posted 6:03 AM

Strong bioluminescence still in mission bay. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeLwvrQyqLf/?stkn=Ymg0N2hjZ2I0d244 Fireworm photo: Mariana Rocha De Souza (San Diego Snorkel Report)

Photo 1 of 4 posted with this reportPhoto 2 of 4 posted with this reportPhoto 3 of 4 posted with this reportPhoto 4 of 4 posted with this report

Tuesday, October 6th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Oct 6 · Posted 9:53 PM

Bioluminescent fireworms at mission bay now in addition to regular dinoflagellate bioluminescence. The both creates this beautiful sight. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeLMyw8hUGS/?stkn=ZWp2ODdhMDZuMHB0

Photo 1 of 2 posted with this reportPhoto 2 of 2 posted with this report

Friday, October 2nd

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Oct 2 · Posted 3:30 AM

Still very strong bioluminescence in the bay. The best spot is being reported as Ski Beach.

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Wednesday, September 30th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 30 · Posted 8:20 PM

Another night of very strong bioluminescence at mission bay. People are reporting it’s concentrated in deeper water, about 100 feet from shore. If you go to fiesta island you can get to deeper water without having to swim out as far.

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Tuesday, September 29th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission Point ParkWildlife sighting
Observed Sep 29 · Posted 3:49 PM

An Orca whale was spotted in the shallow water of Mission Point Park, Mission bay, San Diego. This happened in the morning. The observer stated that the orca swam around the bay for a bit then left through the channel. This is likely a tropical orca, which have been moving up to SoCal due to El Niño overheating their home range. Credit: Casey Cole on Facebook.

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report
NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 29 · Posted 12:47 AM

Bioluminescence at 8pm, 9.28 Specifically Fiesta Island of Mission Bay

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Monday, September 28th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 28 · Posted 11:08 PM

Bioluminescence in mission bay still! Looks really strong. Glad to see it hasn’t faded. Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dd3B9sIJvgM/?stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Sunday, September 27th

naielle
Mission BeachBioluminescence
Observed Sep 27 · Posted 4:52 AM

bio luminescence at Crownpoint Shores this morning at 4 AM

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Saturday, September 26th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 26 · Posted Sep 27 at 4:58 PM

Bioluminescence again in mission bay. Really strong too. Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=936464702420026&id=100065040300112&mibextid=wwXIfr

Photo 1 of 2 posted with this reportPhoto 2 of 2 posted with this report

Thursday, September 24th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 24 · Posted Sep 25 at 9:51 AM

Bioluminescence in Mission bay again last night. Thursday 9/24

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Wednesday, September 23rd

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 23 · Posted Sep 24 at 7:46 PM

Bioluminescence reported on Wednesday the 23rd. Fainter than on the 22nd.

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Tuesday, September 22nd

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 22 · Posted Sep 24 at 7:40 PM

Bioluminescence in mission bay! This was on Tuesday 9/22. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTyLPdS4G/

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Saturday, September 19th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 19 · Posted Sep 20 at 10:57 AM

Bioluminescent fireworms are being reported in mission bay on the local Facebook groups! For anyone wondering what those are, they're a type of seaworm, roughly 1.2 inches, that typically live on the seafloor of bays. On rare occasions at night they perform a mating ritual where the females release a glowing trail behind them and swim around in tight circles. The display only lasts 30 min.

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report

Friday, September 18th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Mission BayBioluminescence
Observed Sep 18 · Posted Sep 20 at 7:09 PM

Bioluminescence in mission bay! Credit: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdX5xc2BIC9/?stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report
erymanthian_boarTrusted Reporter
Point LomaWildlife gathering in the water
Observed Sep 18 · Posted 11:13 PM

🌅 El Nino Sighting: Dozens of mobular rays off Point Loma Peninsula! My buddy and I took his boat out to a few spots today to find mobular rays after seeing it on the news. Only saw them near Point Loma, about a half mile offshore from Cabrillo Monument. We saw SO MANY. And they were breaching like crazy! And we also saw a TON of flying fish!

Photo 1 of 1 posted with this report
NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
La Jolla CoveSomething else
Observed Sep 18 · Posted 1:10 PM

Kelp forest died off due to el nino. Kelp can't withstand the warmer temperatures. People are reporting the whole kelpforest off of la jolla cove died off.

Saturday, September 12th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
San Diego CountyRed tide or discolored water
Observed Sep 12 · Posted 10:47 AM

Phytoplankton bloom. Green water. It’s decent visibility though regardless

Friday, September 11th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
Torrey Pines State BeachHazard
Observed Sep 11 · Posted 4:57 PM

🚨 Rip tides and strong currents at Torrey pines. Lifeguards posted warning signs not to swim. I swam anyway and got stuck in one and had a tough time getting out. The waves were big too - and I kept getting sucked back into crashing waves when I was trying to get out. Watch out!

Thursday, September 10th

Kylesmarie
La Jolla ShoresShark sighting
Observed Sep 10 · Posted Sep 17 at 9:10 PM

Massive amount of leopard sharks and one hammerhead spotted close to shore!

Photo 1 of 2 posted with this reportPhoto 2 of 2 posted with this report

Sunday, September 6th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
San Diego CountyRed tide or discolored water
Observed Sep 6 · Posted 11:02 AM

Phytoplankton bloom. Water has been dark green for a couple days. Z

Saturday, August 29th

NauticalNickCaptainOcean Oracle ProTrusted Reporter
La Jolla ShoresShark sighting
Observed Aug 29 · Posted Aug 31 at 2:59 PM

Thresher shark sighting reported off of la jolla shores, swimming over the edge of the canyon. The reporter, local diver Stephen Wright, posted pictures and videos of the sighting to the San Diego Dive Report Facebook group. Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/897456667743935/permalink/2268186337337621/

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