Thoughts and observations from monitoring west coast kelp forests. Kelp Forest Program Director @reefcheck. N of 1.
Joined October 2009
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Reef Check Data through the end of 2021 on inverts, kelp, and UPC is now available via the data request form on or website. Fish data and 2022 data will be available soon! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…
pres·ent·ism
/ˈpreznˌ(t)iz(ə)m/
noun
1uncritical adherence to present-day attitudes, especially the tendency to interpret past events in terms of modern values and concepts.
Grant Downie, commercial urchin diver, spotted at sunflower star in Fort Bragg, CA! instagram.com/reel/Cl2eMLdjQ…
#WSN2022 such an amazing conference! So great to see so many friends and colleges and to see so many great talks, including two from Reef Check about some of our kelp restoration projects. #kelpforests
"We learn our indicator species and then we stop looking at and IDing other species."
David Kushner, Naturalist of the Year, #WSN2022
I'm so guilty of that. I'm going to try to change that about myself and from now on be constantly looking for things that aren't on my list.
One year ago this site was an urchin barren with very little kelp. Today it's a healthy kelp forest where the urchins are tucked back in cracks, passively feeding on the drift algae. #kelprestoration #kelp #kelpforest #tankersreef
Reef Check has been involved in kelp restoration for going on five years, and in that time we have never really achieved the goal of flipping barren areas back to full-fledged kelp forests--until now.
#g2kr #reefcheck #citizenscience #urchinbarren #stablestates #hysteresis
Great article in this morning's SF Chronicle!
Hope for kelp restoration in California, as underwater forest returns to Monterey Bay sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti… via @sfchronicle
Our team in Washington came across an aggregation of sunflower stars during a survey on Camano island last weekend. They saw "hundreds of little pycnopodia, most were between 10-13 cm and few were larger 25-40 cm." #sunflowerstar #pycnopodia #reefcheck #citizenscience #kelpforest
New data collected by Reef Check shows that kelp restoration efforts at Tankers Reef off the coast of Monterey have resulted in the significant growth of giant kelp! The density increased roughly fivefold from 33 stipes per 100m2 to 150 per 100m2 from March 21' to Sept 22'
Was out with Reef Check Oregon this week doing surveys around Port Orford, including at Arch Rock on Orford Reef. Oregon has experienced a significant loss of kelp similar to Northern California but there is less data in Oregon so the extent of the loss is less well understood.
Finished up surveys along the #SonomaCoast this weekend. Sites look unchanged from the past full years. Absolute #urchinbarrens with almost no #kelp and a lack of invertebrate diversity. I saw no #abalone. One observation of interest is there are very few small urchins (<4 cm).
This contrasts significantly with Monterey were new urchin recruits are common. Knowing that barrens facilitate recruitment this is surprising given that barrens are much more prevent in Sonoma. I wonder if Monterey’s mosaic of forest and barrens is causing this.