The productive ecosystem off the coast of California has three oceanographic seasons. Just as spring and summer are growing seasons in our backyard gardens, there are growing seasons in the water column around Cordell Bank. During springtime, strong northwest winds push the water southward along the California coast. Gale winds and ocean currents, combined with Earth's rotation, drive surface waters away from the shore. These surface waters are replaced by upwelling of deeper and colder nutrient-rich waters from offshore. The nutrients become available for surface dwelling phytoplankton, or marine algae. Phytoplankton are the foundation of the food web and the infusion of nutrients and increased sunlight in spring initiates a bloom of life that radiates up the food web. An abundance of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and young fish are food for animals at higher levels of the marine food web.

Spring/summer upwelling in Cordell Bank

Fall: the relaxation period

During the late summer and fall, coastal winds die down and the sea surface becomes calmer, a good time to visit Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary! The northward-flowing Davidson Current moves over the Continental Shelf bringing warm nutrient poor waters from the south.