Kelpscape

Oil Pier Pilings

These steel beams supported an oil-drilling pier in the 30's or 40's. The pier was a precursor of the oil platforms, in this case between Sands Beach and Haskell's Beach: supported on pilings driven into the bedrock beneath the beach.  The platform shelled by the Japanese submarine I-17 on Feb 23, 1942 was here; these may have been part of that structure.  In any case, the platform was dismantled when the wells became uneconomical. At some point the pilings were cut off at ground level or below. Erosion of the soft bedrock continues to expose them. In the ocean offshore, divers still find rough beam partly buried in the sand, or boxlike structures made from them. I've never been tempted to explore inside, although I once waited a subjective eternity as my dive buddy (who was divingwhile recovering from a recent hernia operation) poked around inside.

Platform Gina

Oil is the reason for the wars we wage. But, the oil found under the Santa Barbara Channel is heavy and rich in sulfur: it isn't profitable to turn it into gasoline or other light hydrocarbons. That may be part of the reason some propose to turn Platform Grace, sister platform to Gina and not far away, into a receiving port for natural gas from Australia. The gas would then be piped to the mainland, far from the risks of environmental catastrophes including disastrous explosion. It's a long haul from Australia.  Meanwhile the platforms generate electricity from the gas they do prouce: and light  themselves up at night.  There's money to be made.