@kelprescue.bsky.social
The Kelp Rescue Initiative is a non-profit operating out of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Center (Bamfield, British Columbia). Our mission is to advance kelp research and restoration and restore resilient kelp forests at an ecologically meaningful scale.
Purple urchin in a rock crevasse with red urchin
#HappyHalloween π Meet the oceanβs βzombies,β 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. π»
31.10.2025 22:58 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0More 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?
23.10.2025 20:28 β π 16 π 5 π¬ 0 π 2
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, weβre 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!
22.10.2025 22:09 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
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
06.10.2025 01:08 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
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 βhitchhike,β becoming micro-habitats for invertebrates and microbes. Even at the end of its life, bull #kelp supports #biodiversity.
01.10.2025 20:55 β π 20 π 9 π¬ 1 π 0
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 Tlaβamin 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.
25.09.2025 19:55 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0πΈ: 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.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
We also found that creating cultures from a larger number of parents decreases self-fertilization rates but doesnβt necessarily result in better restoration outcomes. However, the long-term consequences of low genetic diversity in culture stocks used in restoration are unclear.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
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.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
We also grew kelp from gametophyte βseed stocksβ sourced from either 2 or 10 parents to explore how genetic diversity affected the success of kelp in these warm sites.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0We grew giant kelp from warm and cold populations within a small geographic region in Barkley Sound, and performed a reciprocal transplant, moving warm populations to cold sites and cold populations to warm sites to explore whether giant kelp are locally adapted to their conditions.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Increasingly warming oceans threaten kelp forests worldwide. Where kelp forests have been lost, scientists, First Nations, and community members seek to restore lost kelp habitat. But how do you restore kelp forests when temperatures keep getting hotter?
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0In this work, led by Dr. Lauren Dykman and published in Restoration Ecology, we experimentally tested the roles of local adaptation and genetic diversity on the restoration success of giant kelp.
16.07.2025 17:57 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Kelp Rescue is excited to announce the publication of our 1st ever kelp restoration peer-reviewed paper! πSince our start in 2021, we've been testing scientific approaches to kelp restoration, and this paper is the culmination of a huge team effort.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
π We're Hiring! π±
The Kelp Rescue Initiative (KRI) is seeking a Restoration and Nursery Technician to join our passionate and science-driven team at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) on Vancouver Island.
π Full job description and how to apply: lnkd.in/djbQBkQ8
The Kelp Rescue Initiative is seeking proposals for the following roles:
π₯ 1. Educational Training Video Producer
π± 2. Social Media and Outreach Campaign Coordinator
π¬ 3. 360-Video Editor for VR Dive Tours
π© Interested? View the full RFP and submission details here: www.linkedin.com/posts/kelp-r...
Happy #PhycologyFridayπΏπ Watch how fast our outplanted kelp grows in only one month, providing habitat for fish at Denman Island!
06.06.2025 22:49 β π 34 π 3 π¬ 0 π 1We just got back from the first field trip of the season, checking on the 1000 square meters of bull kelp outplanted in partnership with @kelprescue.bsky.social and Project Watershed.
The kelp babies are still small, but should grow fast in the coming months!
