Point La Jolla - Tourmaline Canyon Intertidal Area
Map SatelliteAlong this 5.6 kilometer (3.5 mile) stretch of coast south of Point Loma are a variety of typical Southern California rocky intertidal marine communities and a number of coastline features.
The surf grass, Phyllospadix scouleri, and eel grass, Zostera marina, as well as various algae including Laminaria farlowii, are found here. Offshore there are several kelp, Macracystis pyrifera, beds.
Much of the shoreline is rocky or cobbled, though there are some sandy beaches. The tidepools and offshore rocks support a number of invertebrates including the starfish, Pisaster giganteus capitatus, Pisaster ochraceus and Pisaster brevispinis, the hydrocoral, Allopora californica, sea anemone, Anthopleura xanthogrammica, rock oyster, Hinnites giganteus, among others. Three abalones, Haliotis cracherodii, Haliotis rufescens, and Haliotis fulgens, may be found in the area.
Bird Rock is a roosting place for various gulls and cormorants.
Most of the rock in the area is an outcrop of hard, concretionary sandstone of Cretaceous age. Boomer Beach, immediately south of Point La Jolla, alternates between a sandy beach during the calmer summer months, when the onshore currents deposit sand, and a rocky beach during the winter when the storms remove it.
Integrity: The area is heavily used for recreation, and collecting, fishing and diving have depleted the animal populations.
Use: Educational, observation, research.
October 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman