Something has happened to the kelp on the north end

Tonight I went for a ride on "Kelpie" to inspect the kelp on the north end of the island. I examined all plants between Lavender Bay and Entrance Island and was surprised to see that almost all bull kelp in the area have lost their blades. They are balder than I am - and that's not an easy thing to do!

The one plant that did have something remaining looked like this, and I am suspicious that something has been grazing on the surface, but have no idea what could do that. I did notice a large number of large Lion's Mane Jellyfish in the area.

This is somewhat worrisome given that when we mapped this area on August 3 2013 most of the plants had a full set of blades - and no sori were visible. I don't know how fast sori develop and drop spores. Does anyone know the answer to this question?

Alternative raft design

Like the raft idea, but definitely not the PVC. Websites showing the many reasons why it is not a good idea for the ocean and for our kelp babies. Below an idea I hatched using the raft concept. Of course all the bulbs would have sori rich blades.



http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/polyvinyl-chloride/
http://www.algalita.org/blog/?p=3740

Sori transplant raft concept: Could this work?

Help the Kelp profiled on CHEK TV News

On August 6 2013 I had a visit from CHEK TV to talk about our project. Here's a link to the news clip.

Story in Nanaimo Daily News: Log booms trap kelp off Gabriola; Essential part of food chain, ecology

In an August 5 2013 article in the Nanaimo Daily News by Ben Ingram, Help the Kelp is profiled. Ben wrote:

Log booms along the shores of Nanaimo's Duke Point and Gabriola Island may be destroying vital kelp habitats.

Residents on the island working to create a map of the area's bull kelp say they discovered dead zones they believe are caused by log booms.

Kelp is an essential part of the food chain and shoreline ecology. Its nutrients can be traced from sea urchins to sea birds.

Michael Mehta is the co-ordinator of Help the Kelp, the group that has been mapping kelp around the area of Gabriola Island.

To read the full story click here.

Bull Kelp Canopies Fully Mapped Around Gabriola Island

Yesterday a team of kelpers including Raquel, Nancy, Victor and Michael completed the last phase of mapping and finished between Twin Beaches and the Whalebone area. You'll see from the composite map below that there are notable gaps in kelp coverage and density.

Next steps: flesh out details for maps with polygons and lines based on GPS waypoints; incorporate notes on temperature and other observations; and then, identify good areas for replanting this year.

EXCELLENT WORK team!

A cast of underwater characters

On July 21 2013 I was joined by kelp helper Liam Coleman and dive master Nelson Quiroga from Vancouver on a journey below the water off Gabriola Island (nearby Carlos Island). Below are some photos of the dive with a brief description of each.

This is what healthy and almost mature bull kelp looks like underwater

The Sea Cucumber plays an important role in eating detritus on the bottom of the ocean so that young kelp can take hold in the area

Here's a herbivore - the Sea Urchin. It eats kelp!

This large creature is a Sun Star. It eats urchins.

And here is one of the apex predators - Liam Coleman :-)

Article in Nanaimo News Bulletin: "Google Earth used to track kelp forests"

In an article by Tamara Cunningham with the Nanaimo News Bulletin, Help the Kelp's work is profiled. Tamara wrote the following:

Citizen scientists are using Google Earth to track disappearing ‘underwater forests’ along the coastline of Gabriola Island.

Help the Kelp – a volunteer organization of citizen scientists – has been carefully plotting beds of bull kelp on Google Earth this summer to help track the trend of disappearing marine habitat.

To read the full article click here.

Kelp Pickle Recipe

Gabriola Island poet extraordinaire Naomi Wakan forwarded the following recipe for bull kelp pickles. I'm looking forward to trying them. The recipe is from the following website.

Just a slight caution first... only use bull kelp that has washed ashore, never harvest live ones.

Kelp Pickles

Pickling brine for kelp

2  cups white vinegar  

2/3 cup water  

1  cup granulated sugar  

4  tablespoons  pickling spices  

Pickles

1    long firm fresh bull kelp  

1  large onion, thinly sliced  

1   garlic clove, minced (1 clove per jar)  

1  teaspoon lemon juice (1 tsp. per jar)  

Directions:

1 Go beach combing locally (hopefully you’re in an area without lots of water pollution, as I wouldn’t use kelp from a polluted area – check with local authorities to find out, first) and find a freshly-beached bull kelp, making sure it’s firm and fresh. Get 1 or 2 glass jars with lids and make sure they’re well washed.

2 Cut off the hollow portion of the kelp (discarding the bulb) and wash it well in fresh water, making sure to remove any/all sand and detritus.

3 Cut it into 1/2-inch rings and rinse in fresh water again, draining it in a colander.

4 Combine the brine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let boil for one minute, then remove from heat.

5 Place the kelp rings into glass jars and add slices of onion, a minced clove of garlic, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice per jar.

6 Add the hot brine to the jar(s) then refrigerate for at least 48 hours before serving.

Article in the Gabriola Sounder: Log booms harming kelp beds, community group says

An article in today's Gabriola Sounder stated:

"Help The Kelp is concerned about the threats log booms pose to sensitive ecosystems such as bull kelp beds.

In mid-July, while using GPS units to map the existing bull kelp beds around Gabriola Island, volunteers noticed bull kelp was sparse in the waters directly across from the Harmac pulp mill whereas nearby, all through False Narrows, kelp canopies were healthy..."

To read more click here.

Article in The Flying Shingle: Kelp helpers discover ‘dead zones’ around log booms

An article in the July 29 2013 edition of The Flying Shingle states:

"Members of Help the Kelp –  a group of Gabriolans that is hoping to re-establish flourishing bull kelp beds off the coast of Gabriola Island – have discovered “dead zones” around and under log booms moored off the southwestern coast of Gabriola..."

To read more click here.

Details on mapping protocol and progress to-date

Help the Kelp on Gabriola Island was fortunate to discover that a group of residents on nearby Mayne Island had developed a mapping protocol for canopy forming kelp.

We have adopted and adapted their approach, and in short use the following when mapping:

Conditions:

Water must not be too rough and no large waves (white caps) in area of interest; daylight hours; plus and minus one hour of low tide; ideally tidal height should be less than 1.2 metres (or 3.94’).

We also use the following approach for categorization.

And, use this approach adapted from work on tree canopies for assessing density. A consensus rating across all kelpers in the boat that day is used to avoid issues around inter-coder reliability.

As of July 25 2013 approximately 75% of Gabriola Island has been mapped. We are noticing unusually warm surface temperatures with a range of 18-22 C. This has prompted us to map earlier in the summer than what Mayne Island did due to concerns that bleaching and bull kelp decline is happening early this growing season. Here's a snapshot of our mapping progress. We have much more detailed maps, and this is just an overview.