I had never been dockfouling before, and when I learned of the activity, I immediately had to try it. I picked a cool, cloudy weekday and headed over to Ventura Harbor.
Now, I knew from my research that others had been foiled by the fact that Ventura's docks are private. (https://spain.inaturalist.org/projects/more-california-wild-women/journal/44251-dock-fouling) However, I had a simple plan: I rented a kayak, thanks to Ventura Boat Rentals. Please note that I did NOT use the kayak to trespass on private docks or examine the hulls of privately owned vessels, and I would ask that no one else do so either!
My initial thought was that I would take the kayak out to a road underpass where there would be pilings and possibly concrete walls to explore (that would not be private property), and I would suggest this approach to anyone attempting a group outing, as the docks by the kayak rental would be overcrowded by several people trying to explore them at once. I can't suggest any locations for group exploration, though -- I didn't go more than a couple hundred feet. I wound up staying close to the kayak rental facility and exploring their dock from the sea, which gave me access to a variety of locations that would have been blocked from the land side by equipment and overhangs. I did receive the attention of a few concerned passers-by who wanted to make sure I was not having a heart attack or other emergency event. I thanked them for checking on my safety.
I easily occupied the hour of the kayak rental examining the dock, then returned the kayak and settled down on an out-of-the-way corner of the rental dock with the camera to explore from the land. I figured they would not object to a paying customer taking up some space on their dock, and they did not seem to mind. The only attention I got was from a few passers-by who wanted to know if I was looking at an interesting fish. Upon learning that I was looking at invertebrates, they quickly lost interest. People have such a bias for creatures with backbones!
In the late afternoon, I drove over to Channel Islands Harbor. There, I visited the dock belonging to the Channel Islands Kayak Center. I didn't want to rent a kayak so late in the day, but the staff there were friendly and tolerant of my exploration of their dock. I asked for their info and prices, and will rent a kayak from them on my next visit. Channel Islands Harbor is beautiful and well worth exploring by kayak, and their prices are extremely reasonable.
If I inspire others to use this method of exploring the docks in areas where they are mostly private, I have a few suggestions:
Many thanks to the friendly staff of Channel Islands Kayak Center.
Many thanks to the friendly staff of Channel Islands Kayak Center.
This observation is for organism at the center of the frame
This observation is for the large segmented worm. I do not know if the narrow yellow and orange filaments are other worms or part of the segmented one's body.
This observation is for the large tunicate, in case the small transparent structures/organisms are a separate species growing on that one. For all I know it is all one colony, but I am not sure.
This observation is for the hot pink assembly that looks like a colony, maybe of tunicates. Yes, I'm fairly sure this is a type of tunicate.
Central white colony. I think they are tunicates?
The large rounded organism
Center organism... is this another anemone or did I actually find a nudibranch?
Subject is the well camouflaged segmented creature I have cropped the image to show better. I think it is a worm and not some sort of long arthropod.
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Interesting!
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