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Along the coast of California is the California sea lion, which can grow up to seven feet long and can be found in shallow ocean water, near beaches, and among rocks. In the open ocean is the northern elephant seal , which grows up to a massive 14 feet (4.3 metres) and has a population of just over 150,000. [ 3 ]
These are marine areas that "support an unusual variety of aquatic life, and often host unique individual species" that are monitored for water quality by the California State Water Resources Control Board. [5] Region 1 – North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) migrates off the coast of California. Order: Cetacea Family: Eschrichtiidae. One species of gray whale occurs in California's waters. Gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus (migrant) Order: Cetacea Family: Balaenopteridae. Six species of rorquals occur in California's waters. Minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Map of California topography and geomorphic provinces California's major mountain ranges. California is a U.S. state on the western coast of North America.Covering an area of 163,696 sq mi (423,970 km 2), California is among the most geographically diverse states.
Coastal California is heavily influenced by east–west distances to the dominant cold California Current as well as microclimates.Due to hills and coast ranges having strong meteorological effects, summer and winter temperatures (other than occasional heat waves) are heavily moderated by ocean currents and fog with strong seasonal lags compared to interior valleys as little as 10 mi (16 km) away.
A rare vagrant Ivory Gull on a Central Coast beach. The Central Coast is an area of California, roughly spanning the coastal region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay.It lies northwest of Los Angeles and south of the San Francisco Bay Area, and includes the rugged, rural, and sparsely populated stretch of coastline known as Big Sur.
The coast of California north of San Francisco contains the Northern California coastal forests (as defined by the WWF) and the southern section of the Coast Range ecoregion (as defined by the EPA). This ecoregion is dominated by redwood forest , containing the tallest and some of the oldest trees in the world.
The California coastal sage and chaparral (Spanish: Salvia y chaparral costero de California) is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California . It is part of the larger California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.