[3] Naples Reef is a rich, productive habitat, with anemone-covered underwater walls rising 30-feet from the sea floor and a kelp forest that supports various fish and wildlife.

White seabass, kelp bass, rockfish, colorful nudibranchs, red gorgonians, pelicans, harbor seals and a variety of crabs, lobster and scallops all share the reef.

This coastal area is home to many threatened and endangered animals such as the steelhead trout, the tidewater goby, the white-tailed kite, and the red-legged frog.

It is one of the most biologically productive locations in all of Southern California and despite being a mainland reef, it is ecologically more connected to the northern Channel Islands.

Naples State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area that protects Naples Reef which is about three-quarters of a mile offshore along the middle of the pristine and rural Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County on California’s south coast.