Refuge on the California Coast

The Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary has a shoreline of 276 miles and contains 5,322 square miles of ocean, centered on the marine canyon of Monterey Bay. The canyon is more than 10,000 ft (3 km) deep at its deepest, and is surrounded by the largest underwater kelp forests in the USA. This diverse marine environment is home to plants, fish, and animals not found anywhere else, and has been protected as a marine sanctuary since 1992.

Running for just a mile (1.6 km) along the west-central edge of the Marine Sanctuary is Asilomar State Beach, a lovely collection of coves and rocks in which all plants and animals are protected as well. The beach is part of the Asilomar Conference Grounds, which was established as a YWCA camp in 1913, and has been operated by the state as a retreat since 1956. The name Asilomar means "refuge by the sea," and so it has been for thousands of visitors each year.

On the dunes overlooking the State Beach are million-dollar "beach cottages" which provide their owners with their own kind of sanctuary from the cares of the world on weekends and holidays, or for the lucky ones, the year round.

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USA-Canada / USA-California

Lat: 36° 37' 39" N
Long: 122° 57' 18" W

Elevation: 70 ft (20m)

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon 8700 with FC-E9 fisheye lens, suspended from a Sutton FlowForm 30 kite using my own BFKK radio-controlled aerial camera cradle. Two images were stitched at the horizon using PTMac and Photoshop CS, and the final movie was created using CubicConverter.