File:Kelp forest off Calif coast collapsing.jpg

Kelp forests collapsing

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/satellite-imagery-shows-northern-california-kelp-forests-have-collapsed-180977214/

The coastal waters of Northern California are changing. A decade ago, hundreds of miles of the rugged seaside were flanked by thick, swaying underwater forests of amber-green bull kelp that were home to fish, abalone and a host of other species. Now, those forests have been nearly wiped out by a series of environmental events that have been falling like ill-fated dominos since 2013.

A new study using satellite imagery and underwater surveys is the latest to confirm that these majestic marine ecosystems have all but disappeared, reports Tara Duggan for the San Francisco Chronicle. Satellite images dating back to 1985 show that bull kelp forests off Sonoma and Mendocino counties have declined by a devastating 95 percent since 2013, and, according to the Chronicle, researchers are concerned the kelp may not be able to bounce back anytime soon.

The results, reported last week in the journal Communications Biology, are the first to use satellite images to quantify the ecological losses that have racked up over the last eight years, the Associated Press reports. Across the more than 200 miles of coast encompassed by the study, kelp forests have been almost completely replaced by barren stretches of sea floor covered in spiky purple sea urchins.

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