The California Kelp Forests are a vital resource for all manner of marine life and eco-tourism, but in recent decades predation by crabs & urchins and uprooting by crab fishing lines being caught in the kelp has decimated the kelp forests.
The Goleta Bay Kelp Restoration Project is an ambitious and innovative pilot project developed and implemented by an engineer from the Seattle Aquarium & a local businessman, who are spending their own resources on scuba gear, materials & boat operation costs, to anchor custom-made ‘holdfasts’ into the sea bed (concrete blocks with cavities for the octopus who prey on the crabs & urchins that destroy the kelp) that allow the kelp to take hold and grow in an environment that has seen the sea floor become barren of rocks due to the damming of local rivers & streams that prevents the natural migration of river rock to the sea.
This report details the successes and challenges of restoring the kelp forests along our coasts by means of these kelp anchors.
To support the Goleta Bay Kelp Restoration Project, please visit www.kelpproject.com