The Kelp Rescue Initiative

Practice makes… competition 😅
Who do you think finished stringing their side of the ARKEV unit faster, left or right?

#KelpRestoration #PhycologyFriday #Kelp #OceanConservation

We are halfway through outplanting! Watch our team plant juvenile #kelp grown on cobble rock at one of our restoration sites.

#KelpRestoration #OceanConservation

We had a chilly but successful start to our outplanting season this week!
#Kelp #KelpRestoration

#Kelp sporophytes under the microscope! Using chlorophyll fluorescence, our team is tracking blade size, number and health as they grow. By imaging primed and control samples, we compare development and test whether early warm exposure can help kelp better cope with ocean warming.

#ThermalPriming

We’re hiring two full-time roles based in Bamfield, BC:

Nursery Manager – leads kelp culturing and nursery operations.

Operations Coordinator – coordinates field, logistics and restoration work.

Full details linked below:

www.kelprescue.org/about#job-op...

#Kelp #KelpRestoration #MarineCareers

Our team has been hard at getting ARKEV units ready!

ARKEV = Array to Recover Kelp Ecosystem Vegetation. These units are designed to float while anchored to the seafloor, keeping young kelp out of reach from seafloor grazers like urchins. Next month, these units will be in the ocean, growing #kelp!

We are seeking proposals from qualified contractors to lead the development of the “Roadmap to BC Kelp Recovery,” a living document (in the form of a website) that will guide kelp ecosystem restoration across British Columbia.

See full RFP details:
tinyurl.com/bdfe5fdn

#KelpRestoration

Dive into a #KelpForest, no wetsuit required.

We offer VR kelp forest experiences and educational talks for classrooms, organizations and events, designed to build understanding, curiosity and care for these vital ecosystems.

Email us at info@kelpresuce.org to find out more!

Two scuba divers underwater, one is carrying a bin with kelp to outplant and the other is waving to the camera

Happy holidays from all of us at The Kelp Rescue Initiative!
We’re grateful for our community of ocean lovers, scientists, partners and donors who make kelp restoration possible. Thank you for caring for the coast. Wishing you a peaceful season and time to enjoy the shore you help protect!

2025 dives recapped. Number of dives: 370. Hours underwater: 308. Number of divers: 11. Dive sites: 17.

We’ve got to give it up for our dive team! From collecting to outplanting to monitoring, they spent A LOT of time working underwater this year. Our #kelp forest restoration wouldn’t be possible without them!

#2025recap #ScienceDiving #ScubaDiving

Ever wonder how bull kelp survives heavy surf and currents? The outer wall of the stipe is made up of strong, elastic cells and the hollow middle is filled with a gelatinous fluid allowing it to flex with the water instead of break! How incredible is #kelp?

#PhycologyFriday #VancouverIsland #BC

Split shot with kelp below the waterline and forest above

Where #rainforest meets #kelpforest, something remarkable happens.
These two powerhouse ecosystems shape each other at the tide line: rainforests filter water and hold shorelines, while kelp buffers storms and brings nutrients back to land.
Healthy coasts depend on both.

Bts in our nursery, we’re working with #kelp at one of its smallest stages: microscopic gametophytes. Early results show we may be able to lower seeding densities by about 2.5x while still getting the coverage we need. More experiments coming this winter! #Phycology #KelpRestoration

Each #kelp population carries its own genetic mix shaped by local conditions. When forests shrink or become isolated they can lose diversity, slowing recovery. Our research shows mixing individuals from different regions may support resilience. Dive deeper: kelprescue.org/publications

How do you plant a forest under the sea?
It starts in the nursery. Tiny #kelp gametophytes are grown on rocks, tiles and other materials, then carefully moved to the ocean floor.
We’re refining these methods to make restoration scalable across BC.
#HelpKelp #OceanRestoration #BC

Purple urchin in a rock crevasse with red urchin

#HappyHalloween 🎃 Meet the ocean’s “zombies,” purple urchins. They strip #KelpForests bare and survive for years without food by slowing their metabolism and consuming their own tissues. Alive but barely, waiting for the kelp to return. 👻

More fall happenings in the kelp forest, a hooded #nudibranch (Melibe leonina) feeding aggregation. Have you ever had a chance to witness this in your local #KelpForest?

Giant kelp forest with a school of perch

Giant kelp forest with a school of perch

Giant kelp forest with a school of perch

Giant kelp forest with a copper rockfish

With in-water monitoring done, we’re reviewing #underwater camera footage from the summer. This #GiantKelp (Macrocystis) bed we restored thrived until late July, homing copper rockfish and perch before urchins grazed it down. Though unfortunate, seeing the successful restoration was a win!

Kelp crab clings onto a blade of bull kelp

Kelp crabs crawling on stipes in the kelp fores

Last week, Dr. Katie Dobkowski generously gave our team a presentation on the role of #kelp
crabs as bull kelp consumers. A few things we learned: they prefer reproductive tissue (sori) over non-reproductive, they have a wide temp tolerance and can turn bright orange if they eat sargassum!

Bull kelp washed up on the beach

Noticing piles of #kelp on the beach? As leaves fall, kelp loosens from the seafloor. Carried ashore, microbes and small creatures break it down, releasing nutrients into the sand and soil. Even after leaving the ocean, kelp supports life on the coast.
#Nature #VancouverIsland

Thank you @cpawsbc.bsky.social , @georgiastraitbc.bsky.social and @penderconservancy.bsky.social for having us this weekend! So great to spend time with and learn from fellow #TideTurners

Bull kelp with a green seaweed growing along its stipe

Spotted in the kelp forest this week, signs of seasonal shift! By early fall, bull kelp slows and softens. Epiphytes and larger opportunistic seaweeds can “hitchhike,” becoming micro-habitats for invertebrates and microbes. Even at the end of its life, bull #kelp supports #biodiversity.

Group standing around on the boat deck looking at bull kelp

Brian demonstrating how to steer the ROV

Passion over the controls of the ROV for everyone to try

The view of the forest from the captains chair on the boat

Wildlife, kelp forests and ROVs, what more could you ask for in a day on the water? We joined the Tla’amin Nation Guardian Watchmen to lead ROV training and chat about survey methods and kelp forest ecology.

Thanks for having us!

Diver measuring bull kelp

Always nice to end our field season on a positive note. After building an urchin fence and outplanting kelp, this site, which had completely disappearing in 2014, is recovering well.

📸: Fernando Lessa, Kelp Rescue Initiative.
Authors: Lauren Dykman, @claysteell.bsky.social, Jordan Bemmels, Grace Melchers, @scuba-timmer.bsky.social , Gregory Owens, Chris Neufeld, & @baumlab.bsky.social

While there remains some uncertainties and survivorship still remains low due to factors like grazing and swell displacing the outplants, these findings highlight modest enhancements to restoration success in regions of warming ocean.

We also found that creating cultures from a larger number of parents decreases self-fertilization rates but doesn’t necessarily result in better restoration outcomes. However, the long-term consequences of low genetic diversity in culture stocks used in restoration are unclear.

Overall, we found limited evidence for local adaptation to thermal microclimates, and that kelp sourced from warm sites sometimes performed worse than kelp from cold sites and may be maladapted to their environment. Sourcing kelp from colder sites may improve restoration outcomes in warming regions.

We also grew kelp from gametophyte “seed stocks” sourced from either 2 or 10 parents to explore how genetic diversity affected the success of kelp in these warm sites.