Kellogg Park at La Jolla Shores features environmental displays in an outdoor plaza by the busy beach boardwalk. A three dimensional model of underwater canyons in the Pacific Ocean is one part of The Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla Educational Plaza.
I blogged about this amazing plaza a couple years ago. See those images (which include stunning mosaic art) and read descriptions by clicking here.
During that previous walk, the three-dimensional, topographic model that you see in the above photo was under construction. Well, it was finished when I and some friends walked by recently!
The fascinating model depicts canyons running down from Mount Soledad into the ocean. On the sides of the model, plaques present information concerning the geology of the canyons, ocean wave dynamics, and other related environmental issues.
Should you ever walk past Kellogg Park in La Jolla Shores, pause for a few moments and learn a good deal about oceanographic history, our local environment, and this planet we live on.
From the HEIGHTS OF Mt. Soledad to the DEPTHS of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla – Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans – Honoring Walter Munk’s legacy of daring exploration and discovery through scientific research, education, and ocean conservation… A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO WALTER & MARY MUNKChecking out information about the La Jolla Sea Caves, and Native American Kumeyaay Cosmology.Walter Munk, “Einstein of the Oceans” – Austrian born Walter Munk arrived at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1939 as a summer intern, beginning a career of pioneering ocean exploration and discovery spanning eight decades…How Bathymetry Affects Wave Refraction at Scripps Pier from a paper published by Walter H. Munk & Melvin A. Traylor (1947) – Wave refraction (bending) is affected by the shape of the ocean bottom. Wave energy can focus or dissipate, affecting coastal erosion patterns and surf conditions.Geologic Block Diagram From Torrey Pines State Beach To Mt. SoledadGeologic Columnar Section of Mapped Formations La Jolla Area (from Late Cretaceous to Holocene)Graph shows how Atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide) Affects Sea Level.
“People should treat the oceans like we do anything else that we care about–with consideration, with care, and affection.” –Walter Munk
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This unique memorial was created several years ago in La Jolla, on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. Words on a circular plaque read: IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DONATED THEIR BODIES TO SCIENCE – UC SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.
Walk down the Coastal Meander Trail, look for two benches above the beautiful Pacific Ocean, and then look for this memorial.
The memorial plaque points to where the sun sets during the Winter Solstice, Spring/Autumn Equinox and Summer Solstice. A quote on the plaque, by Carl Sagan, reads: We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.
Families remembering loved ones who gave their bodies to further scientific knowledge can sit on the benches and enjoy a sunny day, and watch a beautiful sunset over the wide ocean.
You can read more about the UC San Diego School of Medicine Body Donation Program Memorial Site by clicking here.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The long Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, jutting into the Pacific Ocean north of La Jolla Shores, is operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The research pier is utilized by scientists and students who strive to learn more about our environment and the diverse life within it.
The public is usually restricted from going onto Scripps Pier, but those who register for a once-a-month tour get the opportunity to walk out to its very end. And that’s what I did today!
The tour–every second Saturday of the month (register here)–begins in front of the historic Scripps Building, then circles around several additional campus buildings until it reaches the foot of the pier. As our group walked along, the knowledgeable tour guide told us about the origin and history of the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and how its environmental and biological research benefits us all.
Then we came to the amazing pier and our sense of wonder grew…
The original wooden pier, built in 1916 with funding from Ellen Browning Scripps, was destroyed in 1983 by an El Niño powered storm. The current modern pier was built in 1988. Today it’s considered one of the world’s largest research piers.
Looking back at the foot of the pier we could see these tank-like water filters.
At the end of Scripps Pier is a pump station. The pier slopes slightly upward as you walk to its end. The reason? So that the freshly pumped seawater, propelled by gravity, will run down a covered trough that stretches along one side of the long pier.
The water, carefully filtered, is then used in the Scripps research labs on shore.
Walking out on the pier high over the beach, looking south toward La Jolla Shores. That’s the Village of La Jolla and La Jolla Cove jutting in the distance.
Now we’re gazing north toward the distant sandstone cliffs of Torrey Pines State Beach.
Many surfers were out today! A sunny San Diego day in December.
Looking back toward a portion of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. (Scripps is a part of UC San Diego.)
We observed lots of guitarfish in the water below. When you’re swimming or surfing, you don’t necessarily see all that marine life beneath you!
Amazing views can be enjoyed from Scripps Pier. Looking down, we saw numerous surfers waiting for that perfect wave on either side of the pier.
We followed our tour guide to a group of container-like structures that were recently placed on Scripps Pier. Together they constitute a mobile facility that will be used for a one year atmospheric study by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A wide variety of scientific instruments, including radar, lidar, sky imagers and radiometers will measure cloud formation, reflectivity and other atmospheric phenomena.
We are approaching the end of Scripps Pier, where that prominent gray structure houses a seawater pump.
All sorts of small boats are kept near the end of the pier, where they can be lowered into the ocean to carry out research.
Notice something shaped like a Christmas tree atop the pump structure ahead? It lights up during the Holiday Season! (As do swags of lights along the length of the pier.)
Lifting a lid from that long trough that channels the pumped seawater gravitationally down the pier’s length. We saw barnacles, mussels and a live crab skittering around! (You can understand why those filters are necessary at the foot of the pier.)
There’s additional filtration near the pump!
I believe this device filters out the larger objects from the pumped seawater, before the water heads down the long trough. You can see some slimy seaweed stuck in it.
From this crane boats can be lowered to the ocean surface. On the left you can see the cage-like entrance to a descending ladder.
Our tour group came upon several people in wetsuits, just back from a dive!
A super friendly graduate student explained how they had dived at an artificial reef off Black’s Beach, to the north, near the Torrey Pines Gliderport. They photographed abundant sea life.
The wet spot is from their boat that was recently lifted!
That’s one long ladder down to the water!
I noticed many instruments on the roof of the pump structure, including antennas and wind gages.
And to one side is the Scripps Osprey Platform! (You can see it near the center of this photograph.)
A plaque on the pump structure. The Scripps Osprey Platform is dedicated to Art Cooley, a scientist who helped save the Osprey, Bald Eagle and Brown Pelican.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Perhaps you’ve seen those spherical yellow buoys bobbing on the ocean off San Diego’s coast. Have you ever wondered what’s inside them?
Well, there’s a CDIP (Coastal Data Information Program) buoy on display near the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. And a nearby sign describes the technology that makes a buoy such a valuable resource of information!
Buoys like this one measure wave height, period, direction and sea surface temperature information.
The data is used by coastal engineers, planners, scientists, harbor masters, lifeguards, mariners, boaters, surfers, divers, fishers and beach-goers! That’s a lot of people who benefit from buoys!
Inside a plain-looking buoy there are various high tech instruments, including accelerometers, magnetometers, a thermometer, acoustic pingers, a computer, GPS and antenna to transmit all the collected, archived information!
(Did you know biofoul was a word? I didn’t!)
Next time I see one of these yellow CDIP buoys, I’ll have a much greater appreciation of what they are!
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Have you seen those huge gray whales breaching in La Jolla? They emerge from a pool of water near the front entrance of Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography!
The impressive whale sculptures stopped me in my tracks during my visit to the aquarium a couple weekends ago. Together they are titled The Legacy. This awe-inspiring public art was created by artist Randy Puckett.
According to his website: “At the time of its installation in 1996, THE LEGACY was the only life size bronze sculpture in the world of any of the large whales: at 39 feet 10 inches tall, it was the second largest bronze sculpture ever cast in the U.S. This life size work features a breaching Gray Whale and calf, and the diving tail of a third Gray Whale displayed in two fountains….”
Families and kids approaching Birch Aquarium from the nearby parking lot are absolutely wowed by these monumental sculptures. You understand the immense size of a gray whale when you stand right next to them.
I noticed two identical plaques placed at The Legacy…
In Memoriam Edward W. “Ted” Scripps II
“I have long hoped to do something for the institution. I seem to have the same salt in my veins as did my grandfather.”
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
UCSD
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Should you walk from the parking lot by Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography to the popular attraction’s entrance, you’ll see what looks like a small submarine. On its side is written Star III.
Star III is actually a submersible that was used for undersea studies back in the mid-20th century.
I looked at the cool little marvel of technology and wondered about its history.
A nearby sign provides interesting information concerning the submersible, which was built by General Dynamics.
When I got home, I found a book published in 1968 by the Naval Oceanographic Office titled Undersea Studies With the Deep Research Vehicle Star III which you can preview here. It concerns a series of 21 dives off Key West Florida in March 1967…to evaluate the Star III system as a platform from which to conduct underwater photogrammetric and various surveying tasks.
I also found the following old public domain photograph of Star III suspended above the water from a seagoing vessel.
Launched in 1966, Star III was capable of carrying a two-person crew and as much as 1,000 pounds of scientific equipment to a depth of 2,000 feet. The sub and its occupants could remain underwater for up to 120 hours…
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Enjoy a few photographs of the historic Old Scripps Building, at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.
Today the building is referred to as the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory. Located on the oceanfront campus a short distance south of the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, it stands next to a grassy area called Pawka Green.
Built 1909-1910, the Old Scripps Building was the original home of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which back then was called the Marine Biological Laboratory. The rather modest building (in which founder and director William Emerson Ritter and his wife also lived) contained research laboratories, offices, and even a public aquarium.
Today, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography has grown into a world-famous campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and is part of the University of California, San Diego.
The two-story Old Scripps Building might appear plain at first glance, but look again. The simple, elegant building was designed by none other than renowned architect Irving Gill. His pioneering Modernist designs often integrated simple lines and pure forms. In Southern California’s brilliant sunshine, his spaces are light-filled and welcoming. He also pioneered the use of reinforced concrete. This building is one such example.
In 1982 the Old Scripps Building, due to its historical importance, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
The adjacent Pawka green is dedicated to Steven Sitter Pawka, Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography coastal oceanographer and waterman. His sophisticated observations and numerical models improved prediction of coastal waves throughout the world.
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There’s a surprising garden on the campus of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It’s called The McReynolds Family Coral Reef Garden.
Desert cacti and succulents planted among rocks strongly resemble an ocean’s underwater coral reef!
This isn’t coincidental. I read several information signs around the Coral Reef Garden and learned how two very different environments are alike in many respects.
You can view this fantastic garden for yourself by walking along the Scripps Coastal Meander Trail, where it heads down Biological Grade. Look for it by the Eckart Building.
Fascinated? Read more about this very unique coral reef-inspired garden here!
As I explored the garden, I saw this plaque by a bench. It reads:
Ricky Grigg
Big Wave Surfer
PhD Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Pioneer Coral Reef Ecologist
Devoted his life to the sea and all it’s [sic] splendor
Two different ecosystems compared: a coral reef and a desert environment. Harsh habitat and abundant life. A seeming contradiction called Darwin’s Paradox.The fore reef, with its many ridges and channels, contains the greatest diversity of corals, fishes, invertebrates and algae.At the reef drop off, deeper, less turbulent water allows corals to grow taller and make more intricate shapes. Much like plants not subject to strong winds!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The small mountain will rise from The Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla, in a plaza filled with educational artwork at Kellogg Park.
I learned about this wonderful project on Saturday during my walk along the La Jolla Shores beach boardwalk.
The sculpture will depict canyons running from Mount Soledad down deep into the Pacific Ocean. Those visiting The Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla Educational Plaza will be able to visualize in three dimensions what is shown in two dimensions in the large, colorful mosaic at their feet.
The Grand Canyons of La Jolla project is the work of the Walter Munk Foundation For the Oceans, which is responsible for the The Map mosaic in the plaza, plus signs and another nearby sculpture.
The Map mosaic is the plaza’s extraordinary centerpiece. It beautifully represents the local shoreline and underwater canyons in the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve.
Lines drawn in The Map concern ocean wave dynamics, calculated by Walter Munk, a world-renowned scientist who worked and taught for many years at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Over a hundred sea creatures also appear in the mosaic.
Signs at one edge of The Map detail the birds, fish and other marine life one might see above or below the water off La Jolla. A second completed sculpture, near the place where the small Mount Soledad will appear, concerns the Kumeyaay in the coastal region. It also shows intertidal sea life, cast in bronze.
Should you walk down the boardwalk (honorary Walter Munk Way) at La Jolla Shores beach, make sure to visit The Map. And watch for the coming of a second small Mount Soledad!
Walter Munk developed ocean wave prediction theory.
To learn more about Walter Munk’s scientific contribution during World War II, his groundbreaking work at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, his worldwide recognition, and why surfers love him, click here.
To watch a Walter Munk Foundation video concerning The Map click here.
Read an article about the mosaic’s debut in 2020 (replacing an earlier “map” at this location) by clicking here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Today I went for a very long walk through La Jolla. I started at the San Diego VA Medical Center and proceeded through the UC San Diego campus, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla Shores, and finally into the Village of La Jolla. I have loads of photos to share in the days ahead!
I’ll start off with photos that were taken during the middle part of my walk. As you can see, I had reached the foot of the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, which juts into the Pacific Ocean at the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
This pier is an important tool that is used for carrying out ocean research. It has a variety of environmental monitoring stations and supports small boats and scientific diving operations. It also pipes seawater to laboratories on the campus. You can read more about the history of Scripps Pier here.
It was a perfect day. Surfers were out on the waves. Families played on the sunny beach below, or in the shade under the pier. Sunbathers lay on the sand.
A welcoming platform near the foot of the pier is a place where people can relax in chairs and enjoy the view.
A gift to honor Jim Ax, Mathematician-Mariner who loved the “Savage Sea” – Kevin and Brian KeatingUrban runoff biofilter. The rocks, gravel, soil and plants filter runoff so it does not pollute the beach and ocean.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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