Horseshoe Kelp
San Pedro · Los Angeles County · California
Visibility Breakdown
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Today's visibility readings at this spot, shown at the hour each one was taken.
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Coastal Bulletin
About Horseshoe Kelp
Why it reads 15 ft
High confidence
7-Day Forecast
Today is the live headline above. Tomorrow onward is the algorithm's forecast from predicted swell, wind, and rain, updated each morning and at 6 PM Pacific.
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See the offshore water on Pelagiscape →Clarity, temperature breaks and kelp off this beach.
About Horseshoe Kelp
Horseshoe Kelp is a submerged reef and kelp ground in the outer harbor approaches of San Pedro Bay, sheltered behind the 8.3-mile Federal Breakwater that fronts the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. The complex runs in a rough horseshoe about ten miles long, from Point Fermin on the San Pedro side east and southeast toward the dropoff north of Huntington Flats, with the Angels Gate and Queens Gate harbor entrances marking the north edge. Depths range from about 40 feet on the shallowest reef pieces to 100 feet along the outer edges, over a mix of rocky reef, coarse sand, and the low pillars locally called boiler rocks. Remnant kelp still grows over the hard structure. Named sub-pieces include the Rockpile, Middle Grounds, East End, and Jackpot Rock. Historically the site carried a kelp bed thick enough to give the ground its name, but the canopy today is patchy and reduced from that scale rather than absent. For decades it has been the standard year-round half-day fishing ground worked out of every major LA and Long Beach landing.
Biomes here
Species found here
Researched habitat and range candidates. A listed species may be seasonal or depth-limited; this is not a confirmed sighting at this location.
Spot strategies
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