A few years ago, urchins had mowed this huge kelp forest down to just a few square feet (Photo by Ann Dornfeld)
Most of the world’s forests are on dry land. But in a few special places on earth, forests grow underwater. They’re kelp forests. And they’re home to an astounding array of marine life. Trouble is, these underwater forests are vanishing. Ann Dornfeld reports on efforts to turn the tide:
Transcript
Most of the world’s forests are on dry land. But in a few special places on earth, forests grow underwater. They’re kelp forests. And they’re home to an astounding array of marine life. Trouble is, these underwater forests are vanishing. Ann Dornfeld reports on efforts to turn the tide:
A healthy kelp forest is so thick with fish and invertebrates that you’d swear you were looking at an aquarium exhibit.
They’re biodiversity hotspots – places that feed and protect an extraordinary number of species.
Brian Meux of Santa Monica Baykeeper standing on the deck of a boat in his wetsuit. He’s looking proudly at a thriving kelp forest along a rocky coastline near Los Angeles.
“This is our little jewel on this coast. Not only does the kelp forest have over 800 species dependent on it, but more than a quarter of all California marine species are dependent upon the kelp forest during some part of their life cycle.”
Since the 1960s, Southern California has lost 90% of its kelp forests. The culprit looks like a small purple pin cushion.
It’s a sea urchin!
Urchins love to eat kelp, and their populations have gone out of control. That’s because overfishing has removed most of the large fish and lobsters that eat urchins.
A few years ago, urchins had mowed this kelp forest down to just a few square feet. So Meux and a team of Baykeeper volunteers are trying to restore the balance.
They’re licensed by the state to do “urchin relocation.”
“what we do is go down, collect urchins by hand, get them on the boat and relocate them to areas where they will no longer harm the kelp forest.”
Sounds easy enough.
“Some of them you’ll want to just pull off the reef – they’ll look like they just can come off – I recommend using the tool. Urchin spines in your fingers… just not fun. ”
Or maybe not.
Either way, it’s time for the us to gear up and jump in.
(sound of diving in and scuba breathing)
Twenty-five feet underwater, the ocean surges so violently that the divers cling to rocks so they won’t be swept away.
It’s tricky to find a safe rock to grab because most of them are covered in urchins that have moved in on this young kelp forest.
But urchins aren’t the only migrants.
Huge purple sheephead and fire-orange Garibaldi fish swim by. A small octopus sits curled in a crevice. Pastel sea stars are everywhere.
Four years ago, this site was pretty much just rocks and urchins.
Two dives later, the divers are back on the boat.
Diver 1: “That was a workout!”
Diver 2: “That was a workout. I’m tired.”
After the team hauls up bag after bags of purple and red urchins, we try unsuccessfully to extract a spine from one volunteer’s finger.
Next, we move to deeper water a mile away. This will be the urchins’ new home.
The divers count the prickly balls as they throw them overboard.
Diver: “Purple!”
Each time a diver counts ten urchins of a particular color, they call it out.
Divers: “Purple! Purple.”
Similar kelp restoration efforts have revived kelp forests along other stretches of the California coast. But while those projects involved reseeding of the kelp forest, Meux says Baykeeper focuses on urchin relocation.
“We’ve found that mostly just get rid of the urchins and natural kelp spores will seed the reef and the return of kelp will ensue.”
Diver: “Purple!”
In all today, the team has relocated about 1500 urchins.
Between weekly trips like these and giant kelp’s ability to grow as fast as two feet a day, kelp restoration is a
heartening environmental success story.
In order for Southern California’s kelp forests to make a widespread comeback, Brian Meux says the state will need to limit the fishing that caused this problem in the first place.
And that issue’s as prickly as an urchin.
For The Environment Report, I’m Ann Dornfeld.