Finding Sanctuary: Ranking the most wanted kelp forests

"Giant kelp and bull kelp forests create habitats that support an amazing diversity of sea life, and their floating canopies are a prominent feature at the surface of California coastal waters. Recently, satellite imagery has shown a dramatic decline in Northern California kelp forests, and a significant, though patchy, loss of kelp forests in central California. Because of cloud cover and the low resolution of satellite imagery, estimates of kelp coverage are inaccurate and smaller kelp canopies can be entirely missed."

""I'm interested in how people and local economies benefit from a healthy ocean ecosystem, and I wanted to contribute to the sanctuary's Iconic Kelp Action Plan, developed with input from our local community and the sanctuary advisory council. Even if it's a kelp forest that is a tended garden, where regular seeding of spores and sea urchin removal is needed, there are many people that want kelp to flourish along our coastline.""

"Ashley interviewed a diverse group of kelp users: kelp harvesters that need kelp for aquaculture; fishers, surfers, scuba divers and kayakers who seek kelp habitat for recreation; scientists that use kelp forests as a living classroom and study sites; educators that link kelp to student's day-to-day activities; and tour companies that seek kelp canopies for wildlife viewing. She asked a number of kelp users what areas they thought were seen as priorities for kelp restoration and/or monitoring along the coast and why"

Satellite imagery shows dramatic kelp declines in Northern California and significant, though patchy, losses in central California. Cloud cover and low-resolution imagery cause inaccurate kelp coverage estimates and can miss smaller canopies. Small-scale restoration efforts are far smaller than regional losses and cannot fully compensate for large declines. Prioritization is necessary to identify which kelp forests are most critical to restore and which merit high-resolution drone monitoring. Diverse kelp users — including harvesters for aquaculture, fishers, surfers, scuba divers, kayakers, scientists, educators, and tour operators — value kelp for economic, recreational, educational, and wildlife-viewing benefits and inform restoration priorities.

Read at The Mercury News