Volume Two highlights ecological hot spots dotting SoCal's coastline, areas now included in Marine Protected Areas: La Jolla Cove, Pt. Loma, Farnsworth Banks off Catalina, Dana Pt., Palos Verdes, Pt. Dume, Carpinteria, Goleta, Pt. Conception, and around the Channel Islands, places where sea life thrives and divers, surfers, boaters, birders, and tidepoolers glimpse nature at its best. Archival images from SoCal's history complement the finely reproduced color images, showing the astounding quantity of seafood harvested in decades past, and telling of the region's heyday, when anglers caught tuna by the truckload, and people still believed the sea's bounty was limitless.
Wonders of the Sea, Volume 2: Marine Jewels of Southern California's Coast and Islands also describes and illustrates six different marine habitats found in SoCal, each giving rise to unique collections of animals and plants. Ecology, marine biology, and natural history interwoven with human history all emerge from these pages, illuminated by brilliant photography. The pictures come to life in stories told by local divers, educators, scientists, surfers, and business people. Their voices describe the intimate relationship between local residents and their ocean.