The Valley Vanguard: For more than a decade, volunteer divers have been quietly wielding hammers off the coast of Santa Monica, California — not to build reefs, but to knock apart an ecological problem that nearly erased the region’s kelp forests. What began as a small, persistent effort by the Bay Foundation has turned into… Continue reading 6 million sea urchins removed by volunteer divers saved California kelp forest
Topic: Kelp
Post-Blob, California’s kelp crisis isn’t going away
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
‘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…
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.
Kelp Forest Restoration Annual Report July 2023 – June 2024 (Year 11)
Annual Report of Kelp Restoration Activities, including Stated Components in Scientific Collection Permit (SCP). Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Kelp Forest Restoration Annual Report July 2022 – June 2023 (Year 10)
Annual Report of Kelp Restoration Activities, including Stated Components in Scientific Collection Permit (SCP). Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Kelp Forest Restoration Annual Report July 2021 – June 2022 (Year 9)
Annual Report of Kelp Restoration Activities, including Stated Components in Scientific Collection Permit (SCP). Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Kelp Forest Restoration Annual Report July 2020 – June 2021 (Year 8)
Annual Report of Kelp Restoration Activities, including Stated Components in Scientific Collecting Permit (SCP). Prepared for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Urchin Gonad Response to Kelp Forest Restoration on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, California
Overpopulation of purple sea urchins (strongylocentrotus purpuratus) has caused “urchin barrens” impacting red sea urchin (mesocentrotus franciscanus) gonad production, a high-value sushi product important to fisheries. Destructive purple sea urchin grazing is also the leading cause of kelp deforestation in the world and has multi-trophic level impacts on species’ use of kelp forest habitat resources. Kelp restoration… Continue reading Urchin Gonad Response to Kelp Forest Restoration on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, California
Kelp Restoration Guidebook: United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, The Nature Conservancy, Kelp Forest Alliance
This guidebook includes TBF’s work on the Palos Verdes Restoration Project on page 71.