Kelp rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens) weave through a tangle of sunbeams and feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii), at home in the surreal shallows of the underwater forest. 2020. Carmel, CA, USA

A bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) reaches for a trickle of clouded sunlight under the canopy of its overarching rival, giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). 2020. Carmel, CA, USA

A green bed of surfgrass (Phyllospadix sp.), a blue band of seawater, and a yellow canopy of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) form the colorful striations of sunlit shallows. 2018. Carmel, CA, USA

An inquisitive monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus) peeks out of a hole in a derelict undersea pipe. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forms the arches of the kelp forest canopy. 2018. Carmel, CA, USA

Rising from the dark depths of the sea, a young bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) reaches up toward the bright light that filters down from the surface. 2019. Carmel, CA, USA.

A small swarm of hungry purple urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) gnaw on the remaining holdfast of a giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). 2019. Carmel, CA, USA

A shoal of blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) floats through the misty green murk as sunbeams pierce the algal canopy above them. 2020. Carmel, CA, USA

An ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) feasts on California mussels (Mytilus californianus) below a breaking swell. 2019. Monterey, CA, USA

Submerged in candy-blue crystalline water, golden towers of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) reach up toward the sun and blanket the surface of the sea. 2020. Carmel, CA, USA

The colors of a shallow kelp forest glow on a cloudy day. 2019. Carmel, CA, USA

Sweeping the sand with its beak, a Brandt's cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) scours the sanddollar-studded shallows for a fishy morsel. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA

The flowing blades of a bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) whip below the surface as a swell rolls over it. 2020. Monterey, CA, USA

While snapping wildly at escaping scuba bubbles, a young Western gull (Larus occidentalis) investigates the food potential of its strange visitor by biting at the dome port of the camera housing. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA.

Reef surfperch (Micrometrus aurora) ride the crest of a wave of surfgrass (Phyllospadix torreyi) as it sways in the surge. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA

Lying still in a swath of red algae, a cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) performs its best impression of an encrusted rock. 2018. Carmel, CA, USA

Floating beneath a fading winter sun, an old bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) waits for the next storm to release its grip on the reef. 2019. Monterey, CA, USA

A young lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) hides in the safety of a red algae bed as jellies drift above. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA

A pack of predators on the prowl, this trio of ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) patrols the intertidal for their favorite prey - the California mussel (Mytilus californianus). 201 8. Monterey, CA, USA

A Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens) drifts into the sun in a swarm of its stinging fellows. 2018. Monterey, CA, USA

A male cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) guards his mass of glittering green eggs beneath a towering giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera). 2020. Monterey, CA, USA

A rush of cold, salty water washes over the back of an ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) as the ocean withdraws from the rocky intertidal. 2019. Monterey, CA, USA

The sunlit shallows of the kelp forest are home to a diverse tangle of algae, creating pristine habitat for a vast variety of marine life like the kelp rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens). 2020. Carmel, CA, USA