Mongabay – FORT BRAGG, U.S. — In 2024, I was scuba diving in Northern California’s Casper Cove where the Watermen’s Alliance, a group of ex-abalone sports divers, has been culling purple urchins since 2020. It had been six years since abalone season shut down, following the region’s kelp forest collapse. About 4 meters (13 feet)… Continue reading Post-Blob, California’s kelp crisis isn’t going away
Category: News Item
‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise
The Guardian: ‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise. Pollution, warm oceans and hungry urchins devastated Pacific kelp. Now, thanks to divers with hammers, one of the world’s most successful rehabilitation projects has helped it rebound…
Southern California Restoration: NOAA and Partners Lead Coastal Recovery 10 Years After Refugio Oil Spill
NOAA Fisheries: Ten years after the Refugio Beach oil spill injured a stretch of California’s coastline, NOAA commemorates a decade of restoration progress. This work continues to heal marine ecosystems, rebuild fisheries and wildlife populations, and reconnect communities with coastal habitats.
Marine Composting Toilets Could Help Clean Up Santa Monica Bay – But Boaters Feedback Is Needed
The Log: If you own a boat and cruise the beautiful waters of Santa Monica Bay, here’s your chance to help keep the ocean clean – and it only takes a couple of minutes. The Bay Foundation, a nonprofit environmental group working to restore and enhance Santa Monica Bay, is asking boaters to participate in… Continue reading Marine Composting Toilets Could Help Clean Up Santa Monica Bay – But Boaters Feedback Is Needed
Restoring the Underwater Forest: Tom Ford’s Kelp Crusade
Rising Tide #137 – Restoring the Underwater Forest: Tom Ford’s Kelp Crusade In this episode of the Rising Tide Ocean Podcast, hosts David Helvarg and Vicki Nichols Goldstein welcome Tom Ford, CEO of the Bay Foundation and Director of the Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program. They discuss Ford’s journey from his first ocean encounter… Continue reading Restoring the Underwater Forest: Tom Ford’s Kelp Crusade
25 Years of Clean Boating
The Log: SACRAMENTO — For a quarter of a century, California’s Dockwalker Program has stood as a beacon of environmental stewardship, empowering citizens to protect the state’s precious waterways. Now, as the program celebrates its 25th anniversary, California State Parks, the California Coastal Commission’s Boating Clean and Green Program, and The Bay Foundation are calling on… Continue reading 25 Years of Clean Boating
Kelp Restoration Project to Pluck Purple Urchins from Santa Barbara Channel
SB Independent: New Pilot Project Will Sell Problematic Purples to Restaurants or Turn Them into Agricultural Products. For the two-year initiative, the CFSB is also partnering with The Nature Conservancy California, UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), and The Bay Foundation, and efforts will be funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
Improving the Boat Sewage Disposal Network
Dockside Podcast: In this episode, we will be joined by Claire Combredet from The Bay Foundation, John Kappeler, Senior Engineer for the City of Newport Beach in Orange County, as well as George Hylkema, who inspects and maintains Newport’s boat sewage pumpout units. We’ll be talking about the Clean Vessel Act and more broadly the… Continue reading Improving the Boat Sewage Disposal Network
These beaches are among LA’s favourites. But they’re fake
BBC: Putting a halt to this meticulously destructive grooming was the first step for Tom Ford, president of local nonprofit The Bay Foundation, an organisation which has been fortifying the beach by restoring sand dunes. “We were looking at what we could do to further enhance the coastline, and we knew we were facing increasing… Continue reading These beaches are among LA’s favourites. But they’re fake
The California sand wars: As beaches shrink, neighbors and cities fight for what’s left
LA TIMES: L.A. County tapped the Bay Foundation, among many others, to help bolster its coastlines. The nonprofit is developing “living shorelines” by installing dunes around beaches in L.A., El Segundo, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Newport Beach… “I don’t like the vision of L.A. without a beach,” said Bay Foundation Chief Executive Tom Ford. “It’s… Continue reading The California sand wars: As beaches shrink, neighbors and cities fight for what’s left