At the end of the Ventura pier, the platform widens out and in the center is an opening. You can look down into the waters below, and see the supports reaching up.
Years ago – maybe 25 – when I lived just a short way from the pier, in the middle of a fierce storm, a friend and I walked out to the end of the pier. The wind was wild, waves were high, we got soaked, we were stupid, we nearly flew off in the wind. The next day it turns out the pier had been severely damaged where we stood. Closed for weeks and weeks, the supports beneath were reinforced and rebuilt.
And now you see them.