Help the Kelp in the news: Article in Flying Shingle

"There is some evidence of increased growth of bull kelp off the shores of Gabriola, but kelp helpers who attempted to reseed kelp beds in the fall of 2009 don’t know whether it was due to their efforts.

So they are undertaking a second initiative to reseed the beds,  Gabriolan Michael Mehta said in a Tuesday interview with The Shingle at his home on Berry Point Road. But this time they will use a number of approaches to see which works best, he said."

To read more go to the original article here. 

Gabriola Island resident Dr. Michael Mehta holds a bull kelp that washed ashore.

Photo by Chris Bowers, The Flying Shingle.

Nereocystis luetkeana - Bull Kelp

is an annual kelp, growing anew each year from spores.

Interestingly kelps, which are also known as laminariales,

make up the order Phaecophyceae, or brown algae.

This one washed onto the beach.

In the foreground we see the holdfast with its many fingers with which it attaches to rocky substrates.

Going up from the holdfast is the long stipe

with the buoyant, gas-filled bulb called a pneumatocyst, at the top.

Blades extend from the top of the pneumatocyst and are the plant’s photosynthesizing structures. These blades are what we see floating on top of the water.

 

Our Founder

This is Ken Capon (1942-2012) who got HTK going several years ago. The photo was taken on December 11, 2009 off John Campbell's place. We were on Wiley Qua's boat doing our very first kelp planting with assistance from Diane Sampson of the Nile Creek Enhancement Society.

Help the Kelp - Gabriola Island restarted

In 2009 a volunteer team of islanders started the "Help the Kelp" project under the leadership of Ken Capon. Ken has passed away, and in recognition of his devotion and respect for the natural world and communities that coexist with it, we are restarting this project. Here's a short documentary on our original effort to replant bull kelp around Gabriola Island. Stay tuned for much more to come.

Help the Kelp Documentary