Adorable Flapjack Octopus

Beneath the waves, the California coastline shares the same rugged topography as its shoreside parallel. Many submarine canyons cut across the continental slope, carrying shallow water life and shorebased nutrients efficiently into the deep sea. A stark contrast from the steady, sloping topography of the continental shelf, deep sea canyons provide steep gradients that provide a unique way to study biological communities and geochemical processes.