Phoca vitulina richardii

Habitat: Rocky beach haul-outs, kelp forest, sandy bottom shoreline

Range: North of the equator in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Behavior: They split their time evenly between land and water. They can dive up to 1500 ft for up to 40 minutes.

Status: Although the California population of Pacific Harbor Seals faces threats due to entanglement, illegal feeding, and habitat destruction, their population has been increasing over the last decade.

Pelecanus occidentalis

Habitat: Rocky, sandy or vegetated offshore islands, beaches, harbors, estuaries, and breakwaters

Range: Canada to Mexico, but only Breed from Channel Islands to Mexico

Behavior: They stay close to shore and usually hunt for food within five miles of land. They have the ability to dive into the water from 60 ft in the air and can live up to 40 years old.

Adaptations: They have glands that extract the salt from their system after they drink sea water. They also have a large hook on the end of their bill to hold fish.

Status: Not on the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The brown pelican is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act as nesting and roosting birds are very sensitive to human disturbance.

Delphinus delphis

Habitat: Warm tropical to cool temperate waters

Range: Worldwide in warm tropical to cool temperate waters

Behavior: They tend to be in large groups of about 100 and are highly social and energetic beings. They rest during the day and feed at night, diving about 1000 ft to feed on schooling fish and cephalopods.

Status: Although a large number of these dolphins fall victim to bycatch, this species is abundant worldwide.

Myliobatis californica

Habitat: Sandy seafloor, muddy-bottom bays, kelp forests

Range: Eastern Pacific from Oregon to the Gulf of California and near the Galapagos Islands

Behavior: They normally are solitary animals but can be in groups of thousands. They often rest on the seafloor semi-buried in the sand and are also known for its ability to jump out of the water and skim along the surface.

Adaptations: They have fused teeth that enable them to crush clam shells and are able to replace lost teeth.

Status: Least Concern

Larus californicus

Habitat: Coastal waters, estuaries, and beaches

Range: Along the Pacific coast of North America and move inland towards the West when breeding

Behavior: They are opportunistic omnivorous foragers and are able to hunt on land, in the air, and on the water.

Status: They are common throughout their range and their population has been generally stable.

Macrocystis pyrifera

Habitat: Kelp forests

Range: Pacific coast of North America

Behavior: Giant kelp can reach lengths of 200 ft and grow at the rate of about 1-2 ft per day.

Adaptations: Only 1 in 100,000 young kelp plants is needed to mature in order to establish or reestablish the kelp beds.

Status: Due to rising sea temperatures and the increasing frequency of El Niño events (an ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a year long warming in sea surface temperatures), populations of Giant Kelp have been decreasing all along California.

Charadrius nivosus

Habitat: Sand, dry mud, or salt flats on the edges of oceans, rivers, or ponds

Range: Along the west coast of North America

Behavior: Adult plovers do not feed their chicks in the "typical" way, instead they lead their chicks to a feeding area and allow them to feed themselves as the chick leaves its nest within hours of hatching.

Status: Today, only 28 major nesting areas remain as their nesting areas are in the open on the sand and have been disturbed greatly by humans. The snowy plover is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

Patiria miniata

Habitat: Kelp forests

Range: Alaska to Baja California

Behavior: In order to reproduce, bat stars utilize spawning.

Adaptations: They have eyespots on each arm at the end to detect light. The bat star also uses sensors on its feet to detect prey and have a water vascular system that it uses to move, transport food and water, and is part of their respiratory system.

Status: Although not officially listed on IUCN, due to the increasing threats of illegal harvest, rising sea temperatures, and sea star wasting disease, populations are in decline.

Haliotis sp.

Habitat: Coastal waters

Range: Baja California to Alaska

Behavior: They produce pearls by creating a shell around parasites or particles that can lodge into their flesh.

Adaptations: They have a spiral shell that protect them and holes on the edge of their shells to discharge waste, release eggs or sperm, and allow water to flow out.

Status: They are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act due to over fishing and disease.

Leuresthes tenuis

Habitat: Shallow coastal water, sandy beaches for breeding

Range: Coast of California and Baja California

Behavior: Grunions lay their eggs on sandy beaches, where their eggs develop for 10 days.

Adaptations: A single female grunion can lay between 1,600-3,600 eggs up to 6 times per season allowing for a low survival rate to still maintain a healthy population.

Status: Although not officially listed as an endangered species, many researchers believe they should be listed due to the increasing threats of light pollution and essential breeding habitat destruction.

Pinus torreyana

Habitat: Dry sandy soil along the coast

Range: Along the coast of San Diego County and on two of the Channel Islands

Adaptations: They are drought tolerant and are able to grow an extensive root system with possible root lengths of 246 ft.

Status: Critically Endangered

Enhydra lutris nereis

Habitat: Kelp forests, estuary habitats

Range: California's central coast from San Mateo County to Santa Barbara County

Behavior: They act as a keystone species for their habitats. They do this by keeping the sea urchin and crab population controlled.

Adaptations: They have loose skin under their forearms that act as pockets to store prey while diving for more.

Status: They are endangered due to their limited range, which entails being close to human activity.

Codium fragile

Habitat: Tops and sides of rocks in rocky shores

Range: Temperate waters worldwide

Behavior: They dangle from ricks within the intertidal and subtidal zones and can host other alga as well.

Adaptations: Codium fragile is unicellular and coenocytic allowing it to grow rapidly.

Status: Least concern

Carcinus maenas

Habitat: Marine and estuarine habitats

Range: Native to the Atlantic coasts of Europe and northern Africa from Norway and the British Isles south to Mauritania; current range includes temperate coastal waters throughout N. America

Behavior: They are able to disperse as adults in many different ways and prey on clams, oysters, mussels, and gastropods.

Adaptations: They are capable of rapidly expanding their range and are excellent at out-competing native species.

Status: They are a very successful invasive predator.

Carpobrotus edulis

Habitat: Native to cliffs and sand-dunes, salt marshes and coastal scrub, but it also flourishes on roadsides and railway lines inland today

Range: Native to S. Africa; current range includes coastlines throughout the Mediterranean, New Zealand, and California

Behavior: They form a large, thick mat, which allows it to create an environment suited for it and not other native plants.

Adaptations: When this shrub begins in a location, it has the ability to "choke" the native plants and alter the soil in the environment.

Status: Due to its ease at re-establishing itself in soil, it is abundant and able to spread easily.

Botryllus schlosseri

Habitat: Docks, boats, rocks and other ocean surfaces

Range: Native to Atlantic Europe and the Mediterranean; current range includes nearly all U.S. coastline, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Japan, and Hong Kong

Behavior: Colonies mature after 1-2 months and reproduce in Spring and early Summer, where it can produce up to 8,000 eggs.

Adaptations: Each colony of the star sea squirt are composed of multiple individuals called zooids, which aid in filtering food particles and releasing water.

Status: Least concern

Undaria pinnatifida

Habitat: Harbors, the open coast

Range: Native to Japan, Korea, and China; current range includes the Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Baja California, and California

Behavior: It does not have any structures that allow it to float and has spread with the use of boating activities.

Adaptations: High tolerance for nutrient rich turbulent waters allows it to grow profusely in disturbed coastal habitat

Status: Least concern

Sargassum horneri

Habitat: Rocks and other surfaces in the ocean

Range: Southern California to Baja California

Behavior: It is has a high buoyancy allowing it to drift with the current to new locations.

Adaptations: It has the ability to create a new population at a location with just one reproductive individual.

Status: Least concern