Residual morning fog lingered on the horizon above La Jolla Cove, as Zach Cabading tightened his snorkel mask. From the shore, the gray cloaked ocean was not much to look at. But just below the surface a vibrant world of darting fish, swirling seaweeds and prowling sharks are hiding in plain sight.
“I was blown away,” Cabading said, who is a recent Scripps Institution of Oceanography graduate. “The kelp forest out here, the rocky reefs, the sea grass beds, I just couldn't believe I had lived here in San Diego my entire life and just had no idea we had such beautiful marine life here.”
For someone who grew up in the region, he is relatively new to diving in San Diego. He started just six years ago. Though his family actively scuba dived in tropical locations, Cabading never considered San Diego waters as an attractive diving location. He learned this sentiment is common after traveling and sharing his newfound love of the sport.
“I would tell everyone I would go scuba diving in California and everyone would just kinda look at me and raise their eyebrows, and they would go, isn't cold? Isn't it murky? Is there anything living out there underneath the water?” he said.
To experience what he did, the recent graduate created a new virtual tour of La Jolla’s Underwater Park. It provides users with an immersive experience of 10 popular diving locations within the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve. With just a click of a mouse, users can plunge beneath the surface and are submerged in an immersive ocean oasis.
“I wanted to do a project that could kinda introduce people to these marine ecosystems without making them get wet or having them pay a bunch of money to do a scuba lesson or something like that,” said Cabading.
Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve is one of 124 marine protected areas that dot the California coastline. It houses some of San Diego’s most iconic creatures including sea lions, leopard sharks, and garibaldis. But many people don’t have access to its wealth of wildlife.
“Some people are just not physically able to go out swimming or diving,” Cabading said. “Some people lack economic access to be able to do the lessons or buy the gear to help them get out into the water.”
The tour is designed to help educate people who may not have access to the ocean about these protected spaces. The tour takes visitors to places such as La Jolla Cove, Sand Dollar Bank, and the Marine Room. Guests can scroll along the bottom similar to google street view. Then, the screen comes to life with creatures and informative text bubbles.
“I think it's important for people to be connected to the ocean and also learn about conservation tools like marine protected areas because our ocean is under significant stress right now,” Cabading said. “We're dealing with rising ocean temperatures. A very, very severe marine heatwave is due to hit our waters later this year in October and November which could devastate our marine ecosystems here. ”
In 1999, the Marine Life Protection Act passed, sparking a statewide call to action to create a network of these regulated zones. Scientists, lawmakers, fishermen and other stakeholders designed them to rehabilitate habitats that were devastated by overfishing in the 1960s.
The level of protections each region receives can vary, but all limit human activities that could disturb fragile ecosystems. Matlahuatly is considered a no take reserve, which means all visitors cannot remove anything living or dead from the area.
With the potential for a super El Niño this year, Cabading is hopeful that the tour can inspire people to want to join ocean conservation efforts. Fish in marine protected areas tend to be more resilient to extreme weather events like marine heat waves. However, the efforts are only effective if the broader community adheres to the state’s restrictions.
“We can all band together to make sure everyone is playing by the rules and that really can have a significant impact on how well a MPA can help protect our marine ecosystems,” Cabading said.
For now, the tool will only be used by community members looking to explore La Jolla’s sublime submerged ecosystems. But Cabading plans on seeking funding to build similar tours at other marine protected areas along the coast.
