Vantuna Research Group at Occidental College

Illustration showing representative community structure across four reef types: natural mainland, Palos Verdes artificial reef, Santa Monica Bay artificial reefs, and natural island reefs. Each panel has grey rocky substrate set against a blue background. Natural reef panels show a left-to-right gradient from shallow inner to deeper reef zones. Each community type displays distinctive assemblages of fish, algae, and invertebrates, positioned according to depth. Species composition varies: natural reefs include diverse macroalgae and invertebrates, while artificial reefs show fewer algal forms and higher fish biomass. Icons for key species appear throughout, with a legend in the bottom right corner. The figure conveys differences in habitat composition and depth-related structure, emphasizing how natural reefs are more structurally and taxonomically complex compared to artificial reefs. The use of separate panels provides a direct visual comparison across reef types and ecological gradients.

SCUBA diver wearing black wetsuit, hood, and gloves, doing peace sign in turquoise blue water next to thick green kelp fronds.

The project in which I spent most of my time adjusting fish icons in powerpoint, but a tiny bit of my time diving in southern California kelp forests! Feel free to ping for pdf. @meps-ir.bsky.social @vrgoxy.bsky.social
www.int-res.com/abstracts/me...

I know this isn't the point, but what incredible footage. Very useful in educating a wide array of people.

I will forever be haunted by this footage.

Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity.

What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives.
🌎🦑🧪

Where did you end up eating/drinking/etc? Did anything stand out bad or good? Always looking to update my recs 😅

Strapped some lasers and lights on our dropcam and drifted along the Santa Monica Bay ocean floor at about 40m depth. Absolutely hacky, but it worked.

Plenty of brittlestars, sanddabs, urchins, tubeworms, anemones, and more!

Turns out octopuses are a lot like cats when it comes to lasers.
🦑🐟🧪🌎

Seconding SBSC. And if you happen to be around when the Fishermen's Market is open on Saturday, make sure to stop by!

Gotta say, I did NOT expect *cleaner* than normal water in terms of chemistry. Genuinely shocked.

The layer of surface ash stopped showing up consistently about 2 km north of our site, but ... I'll take the good news where I can.

cc: students

recently finished this marine bio inspired knit 🧶 🌊

Two tries later: success!

Increased fill to 60% and used a rectilinear infill pattern. Printed with a Bambu Lab A1 printer. Took 10:47 to print.

This one liter sediment core weighs 179g, has a beveled top edge, a 1-mm screen on the bottom, and is just slightly *negatively* buoyant.

It’s perfect.

CDIP website thankfully displaying the data from the Santa Monica Buoy, including a 10.96 ft significant wave height from the morning of March 3, 2025

oh thank goodness, I think the @cdipbuoys.bsky.social link I had bookmarked just isn't responding - but the mobile view is available...

also: WHOA at that swell that came through yesterday morning!

CDIP website unable to complete requests for buoy data

Given what is happening at the federal level, I assume this is not a glitch and that buoy information is not going to come back online.

I really hope I'm wrong. Buoy data is absolutely invaluable.

Hey, I know those fish! 😂

oh interesting! I'll have to check it out.

I feel like the walls of the core aren't thick enough to have so much void space that something made with a material with a density of 1.25 g/cm3 floats in seawater ... but it apparently does.

For reference, we previously used 5" sections of 4" ABS pipe, glued on a knockout plug, drill large holes in the plug, then glued 1-mm screen over the holes.

Super inefficient, prone to damage, and costs more in just materials than a 3D printed core using PLA.

It works, but we can do better!

As we replace old and damaged gear, why not use newer/cheaper/better technology?

I designed and 3D printed a diver sediment core with 1-mm screen and a beveled edge.

Not bad for a first try, screen isn’t perfect but it’ll work.

Biggest issue? It floats 😳🫠🤷🏻‍♂️ Guess I need a higher infill %?

🧪🦑🌎

Valentine's Day card featuring a Giant Sea Bass (Stereolepis gigas) that says "My feelings for you are giant!"

Valentine's Day card featuring an artificial reef made of pier pilings that says "My love for you isn't artificial!* *but often artificial things can be good! Artificial reefs help support underwater ecosystems!"

Valentine's Day card featuring two male California Sheephead (Bodianus pulcher) and a surf grass covered seascape with many Blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis) and a few Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) that says "I fish you could be my valentine"

Valentine's Day card featuring giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) that says "I can't kelp that I have a crush on you"

Happy Valentines Day, from the VRG to you ...

but feel free to fill in your own names on our custom templates!

(artwork, text, and original absurdity by @chesseea.bsky.social)

We monitor MPAs throughout southern California – would be happy to be included!

Checking in on California’s weather and water outlook Today on AirTalk, fill in host Jacob Margolis takes an early look at the atmospheric river that will be hitting Los Angeles later this month. Also on the show, we explore how debris runoff could impac...

"In wake of Palisades fire, scientists keep an eye on how debris runoff could impact the ocean"

Listen to VRG Post-Doc Zoë Kitchel (@zoejean88.bsky.social) talk about potential impacts of the Palisades Fire on rocky reefs in Malibu!

laist.com/shows/airtal...

California coastal community shifts 4 inches closer to the ocean each week: NASA A coastal community in Southern California is shifting downslope toward the Pacific Ocean at a rapid rate, according to NASA.

A lot goes unsaid and under-discussed in this article and video, and it'd be great if the general public didn't have to connect the dots, but also this is a really informative piece.

Maybe 100 ft to the right of this photo is Palos Verdes Reef, which we built in 2020.
abcnews.go.com/US/californi...

My 3 year old doesn't understand why I tear up (at bare minimum) every time I hear this song.

I should explain to her that it is such an accurate representation of how a volcano becomes and atoll.

I feel like I should know the answer to this based upon my own experience and what you just wrote, but how well do the shells keep their color over time?

I'd imagine that for a non-science (beauty?) collection, a quick spray of lacquer would do wonders, but is it even necessary?

Malibu’s ocean life isn’t safe from fire, and the worst effects are yet to come Marine biologists prepare to study damage from debris flows, nutrient imbalance and toxic contaminants.

laist.com/news/climate...

MicroCT training

Many of our marine biology PIs and staff are getting trained on our new #microCT … hopefully not our last NSF-funded purchase

(This picture is lame, but I didn’t want to interrupt. I’m sure we will spam you with TONS of images soon #ScanAllFishes)

We’ll see. Sampling outside of the “closed” areas, but not THAT far. Have a full suite of analytes to be tested including heavy metals, PCBs, and so on.

On the other hand, maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised?

L.A. fires wreaked havoc on the land. Scientists are racing to learn what they've done to the sea The debris and pollution from the recent L.A. fires will eventually make their way to the ocean — and scientists will be gauging the impact.

Should be interesting (and probably disappointing) to see our upcoming water chemistry sampling results, plus see the lingering effects of runoff on the water column and ocean floor over the next year.

We saw it after the Woolsey Fire, I can imagine the result is any better this time around.

Applications for our postbaccalaureate program are only open for another 10 days. If you're a recent college grad who is interested in museum careers, but didn't get the opportunity in college to gain research experience, consider applying to work with us for 12 months! Please feel free to share

I’m in the middle of family leave, but I took two days back because some students told me they wanted to test out a promising project.

Lo and behold, three automatic (via thruster and pre-programming) CTDs that we made race through a profile program.

The red one won! 😂

Oh 100%