Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The California coast has been hiding one of America's strangest infrastructure projects in plain sight.
From the shoreline in Long Beach, these palm tree-lined islands look like luxury resorts. They're actually active offshore oil facilities built atop the Wilmington Oil Field—one of the largest oil fields ever discovered in the United States.
When drilling began in the 1960s just offshore from homes, beaches, and businesses, Long Beach required something unusual: industrial infrastructure that would be quieter and blend into the waterfront.
The result was the THUMS Islands, designed with the help of a Disneyland theme park designer. Fifty-foot architectural walls muffle drilling noise, colorful towers conceal the rigs, and tropical landscaping transforms what is essentially an oil field into a striking piece of coastal infrastructure.
Whether you see it as clever design or controversial camouflage, the islands reveal how communities have grappled with the challenge of fitting critical infrastructure into places where people live, work, and enjoy the water.
waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability.
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#THUMSIslands #LongBeach #OffshoreOil #CaliforniaHistory #WaterInfrastructure #Engineering #CoastalInfrastructure #WilmingtonOilField #UrbanPlanning #HiddenCalifornia #Infrastructure #Waterloop
The California coast has been hiding one of America's strangest infrastructure projects in plain sight.
From the shoreline in Long Beach, these palm tree-lined islands look like luxury resorts. They're actually active offshore oil facilities built atop the Wilmington Oil Field—one of the largest oil fields ever discovered in the United States.
When drilling began in the 1960s just offshore from homes, beaches, and businesses, Long Beach required something unusual: industrial infrastructure that would be quieter and blend into the waterfront.
The result was the THUMS Islands, designed with the help of a Disneyland theme park designer. Fifty-foot architectural walls muffle drilling noise, colorful towers conceal the rigs, and tropical landscaping transforms what is essentially an oil field into a striking piece of coastal infrastructure.
Whether you see it as clever design or controversial camouflage, the islands reveal how communities have grappled with the challenge of fitting critical infrastructure into places where people live, work, and enjoy the water.
waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability.
Visit waterloop.org
Subscribe to catch every video: youtube.com/@waterloop
Never miss an episode! Subscribe to waterloop:
🎧 Spotify:bit.ly/waterloopSpotify
🎧 Apple Podcasts:bit.ly/waterloopApple
🎧 YouTube Podcasts:bit.ly/waterloopYouTubePod
Follow waterloop for more stories on water sustainability:
🔹 Instagram:instagram.com/the_waterloop
🔹 LinkedIn:linkedin.com/company/thewaterloop
#THUMSIslands #LongBeach #OffshoreOil #CaliforniaHistory #WaterInfrastructure #Engineering #CoastalInfrastructure #WilmingtonOilField #UrbanPlanning #HiddenCalifornia #Infrastructure #Waterloop
