Range and movement data from boat-based photo-identification surveys of Pacific coast common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), carried out over a 6-yr period from 1996 to 2001, were collated and analyzed. Primary data sources were from surveys carried out in four Southern California Bight study areas: Ensenada (12 surveys), San Diego (95 surveys), Santa Monica Bay (170 surveys) and Santa Barbara (61 surveys). Additional data from surveys in Monterey Bay between 1990 and 1993 (84 surveys) were also included in some analyses. Photographic matches between the San Diego, Santa Monica Bay and Santa Barbara study areas ranged from a low of 42% to a high of 67% and averaged 53%. In addition, 32 of the 58 individuals (55%) identified in Monterey Bay also occurred in one or more of the four Southern California Bight study areas. Back-and-forth inter-study area movements recorded between 1996 and 2001, were exhibited by 157 of the 246 (52%) individuals sighted in two or more study areas. Minimum travel distances ranged from 104 to 965 km, with one individual documented to have traveled from Ensenada to Monterey Bay. The most rapid travel speed was 94.5 km/day. These results reinforce earlier characterizations of coastal bottlenose dolphins being highly mobile and capable of rapid travel along the Baja California and the southern and central California Pacific coastline. It is hypothesized that these extensive movements are related to fluctuations in local, regional and perhaps Pacific-wide oceanic conditions that affect prey productivity and availability; combined with unique foraging strategies that have developed to meet these environmental fluctuations.

The California spiny lobster (Panulirus interruptus) fishery in southern California ranks amongst the State's most economically important fisheries. An analysis of commercial harvest data confirms that the fishery was landing near-record catches in the late-2000s through early-2010s. Advances in recreational fishing technology likely tempered commercial fishery landings per unit effort. The commercial catch per trap pulled declined 15%, on average, in years after the introduction of a new rigid-style hoop net in the recreational fishery. Fishery-independent data sourced from power plant marine life monitoring recorded increased California spiny lobster abundance after 1989 with evidence of increased larval settlement beginning circa 1989. This timing was consistent with previously reported oceanographic changes in the North Pacific. Abundance indices for lobsters likely one-year's growth away from recruiting into the fishery and the young-of-the-year, both derived from power plant abundance records, significantly predicted the commercial landings at index-appropriate temporal lags, i.e. one year for next year's recruitment. Carapace lengths measured during power plant surveys in Santa Monica Bay, where commercial fishing was prohibited, significantly declined for the total sample and females only after the introduction of the new rigid hoop net. Male carapace lengths were not significantly different between the two periods. The power plant data confirms that, as of 2012, the fishery appears healthy but warns of the need to monitor sublegal individuals and their dependence on oceanographic conditions. These analyses also indicate the urgency of monitoring the recreational fishery harvest, especially the potential effects of the new rigid hoop net.