How to Revive #California’s #Underwater Forests? Smash a Spiky, Hungry Foe.
A decade ago, the coastline north of San Francisco was the site of one of the most horrific deforestations ever recorded. More than 90% of the towering, majestic #kelpforests, across 200 miles of glittering shore, were dead and gone in years. Felled by freakishly warm #ocean water.
Cove by cove, #scientists, #divers and volunteers are hauling up #urchins to protect #kelp.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/climate/california-kelp-restoration.html
https://archive.ph/j7Qne

Dive number: 699 & 700(!)
Date / time: Wed Jul 30, 2025 8:58 AM
Dive Site: Folly Cove
Water Temperature: 51F briefly, but mostly 54F+
Bottom Time: 2h4 (1h26 + 38)
We all brought our wide angles to cruise the shallows on the left side at Folly - we surface swam much of the way over and then dropped down, swimming past the northern red and up into the shallows around the tip of the rocks visible from shore. Up on top, it was shallow, colorful, and bright in the sunshine. The visibility was awesome and I managed some nice shots in the shallows without seeing too much in the way of critters.
Another buddy joined up for dive #2 and we decided to cruise the right side to see what was going on over there. The sun was higher in the sky, so I couldn't really get any sunbeam shots. Overall, we didn't see a ton, but there were a few clusters of squid eggs including one with a lobster living under it. The stars of the show were the flounders who were mostly curious what we were up to rather that bolting away from us. Nice dive!

#scuba #crabs #lobsters #urchins #seaweed #NewEngland #Massachusetts #anemone #sunbeams #wideangle #underwaterphotography

‘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
Led by #BayFoundation, divers in the #SantaMonica Bay have spent 15,575 hours underwater over the past 13yr. To bring kelp back, they focus on minimizing impact of one voracious eater: the #purpleurchin.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/31/california-pacific-kelp-forest

sea #urchins are pretty things

Sea urchin in Lombok - Indonesia
#gili #islands #giliislands #lombok #diving #indonesia #padi #scuba #pets #coral #ocean #plongee #sealife #oceans #divecenter #marinelife #urchin #urchins