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https://theconversation.com/whether-youre-a-snorkeller-or-ceo-you-can-help-save-our-vital-kelp-forests-202620>
"What if we told you the world has forests harbouring creatures with three
hearts and where the canopy can grow by a foot a day? What if we told you it
was silently disappearing? What if we told you we now have the chance to bring
it back?
These wonder-filled and remarkably productive ecosystems are kelp forests. They
wrap around almost a third of the world’s coastlines. If you live in New York,
Los Angeles, Sydney or Tokyo, you can snorkel over a kelp forest on a day trip,
and potentially spot a seahorse or three-hearted octopus.
Kelp forests have even influenced human migration patterns. The so-called “kelp
highway” suggests the first Americans settled on the continent by following the
kelp-dominated coastline of the Pacific Rim, feeding on plentiful fish and
molluscs.
But these vast forests of the sea are little known compared to coral reefs.
That’s a tragedy, given they support some of our most lucrative fisheries such
as lobster and abalone, house thousands of species, and can capture great
amounts of carbon.
Kelp forests are dying at a rate similar to coral reefs or rainforests. In some
areas, we have seen near total loss of kelp forests in living memory, and
sometimes in just a few years. This includes losing 95% of bull kelp in
northern California and 95% of giant kelp in Tasmania.
But this is not a bad news story. This is about you and your ability to help.
You might think – what can I do? I’m not a scientist. But all around the world,
communities and individuals are working to restore these ecosystems. It might
be planting out baby kelp with mask and snorkel, removing destructive sea
urchin swarms or even creating art to draw attention to these forgotten
forests."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
