Scripps Canyon is a narrow submarine canyon off San Diego near the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, and its accessibility has made it one of the best-studied underwater canyons on this coast. Research began with Francis Shepard’s measurements in 1937 and expanded after diving advances in the 1940s and 1950s. The canyon later supported oceanographic and engineering work, including SEALAB II in 1965 and studies of sediment movement in the 1970s and 1980s. It is also valued for rich marine life, dramatic diving terrain, and continuing scientific importance as both a natural habitat and a field site.