New Fossils Suggest Kelp Forests Have Swayed in the Seas for at Least 32 Million Years
Trapping Millions of 'Zombie' Urchins Could Restore California's Once Mighty Kelp Forests
Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay
Massive California Kelp Decline Linked to Ocean Heat, Voracious Sea Urchins
A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California's Kelp Forests -- But Why?
Scientists and Fishermen Scramble to Save Northern California's Kelp Forests
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Find him on Twitter at \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RadioEli\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@RadioEli\u003c/a>.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97a5920503f1b1bc629dc0827b971f5d?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"RadioEli","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"arts","roles":["author"]},{"site":"news","roles":["author"]},{"site":"science","roles":["author"]}],"headData":{"title":"Eli Wirtschafter | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97a5920503f1b1bc629dc0827b971f5d?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97a5920503f1b1bc629dc0827b971f5d?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/ewirtschafter"},"parcuni":{"type":"authors","id":"11368","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11368","found":true},"name":"Peter Arcuni","firstName":"Peter","lastName":"Arcuni","slug":"parcuni","email":"parcuni@KQED.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":["science"],"title":"Reporter","bio":"Peter reports radio and online stories for \u003cem>KQED Science\u003c/em>. His work has also appeared on the \u003cem>The California Report\u003c/em> morning show and \u003cem>KQED News\u003c/em>. His production credits include \u003cem>The California Report, The California Report Magazine\u003c/em> and KQED's local news podcast \u003cem>The Bay\u003c/em>. Other credits include NPR's \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em>, WNYC's \u003cem>Science Friday\u003c/em>, WBUR's \u003cem>Here & Now\u003c/em>, WIRED and SFGate. Peter graduated from Brown University and earned a master's degree in journalism from Stanford. He's covered everything from homelessness to wildfires, health, the environment, arts and Thanksgiving in San Quentin prison. In other lives, he played rock n roll music and studied neuroscience. You can email him at: parcuni@kqed.org","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5032f6f27199d478af34ad2e1d98732?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"peterarcuni","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Peter Arcuni | KQED","description":"Reporter","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5032f6f27199d478af34ad2e1d98732?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d5032f6f27199d478af34ad2e1d98732?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/parcuni"},"aheidt":{"type":"authors","id":"11520","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11520","found":true},"name":"Amanda Heidt","firstName":"Amanda","lastName":"Heidt","slug":"aheidt","email":"aheidt@kqed.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":"Amanda Heidt was the 2018 Dr. Allen Fuhs KQED-CSUMB Fellow at KQED Science. Amanda came to KQED from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, where her masters research uses molecular techniques to describe communities of meiofauna, small invertebrates living between grains of sand. She has a background in education, outreach, and science communication, fostered by a recent position with the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions. She has a BS in Marine Science and a minor in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her interests include climbing, diving, camping, baking, and reading. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @Scatter_Cushion.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e646090632bd7fef75fff4616269ff8c?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"Scatter_Cushion","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["subscriber"]},{"site":"science","roles":["author"]}],"headData":{"title":"Amanda Heidt | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e646090632bd7fef75fff4616269ff8c?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e646090632bd7fef75fff4616269ff8c?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/aheidt"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"firebase":{"requesting":{},"requested":{},"timestamps":{},"data":{},"ordered":{},"auth":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"authError":null,"profile":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"listeners":{"byId":{},"allIds":[]},"isInitializing":false,"errors":[]},"navBarReducer":{"navBarId":"news","fullView":true,"showPlayer":false},"navMenuReducer":{"menus":[{"key":"menu1","items":[{"name":"News","link":"/","type":"title"},{"name":"Politics","link":"/politics"},{"name":"Science","link":"/science"},{"name":"Education","link":"/educationnews"},{"name":"Housing","link":"/housing"},{"name":"Immigration","link":"/immigration"},{"name":"Criminal Justice","link":"/criminaljustice"},{"name":"Silicon Valley","link":"/siliconvalley"},{"name":"Forum","link":"/forum"},{"name":"The California Report","link":"/californiareport"}]},{"key":"menu2","items":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","link":"/arts","type":"title"},{"name":"Critics’ Picks","link":"/thedolist"},{"name":"Cultural Commentary","link":"/artscommentary"},{"name":"Food & Drink","link":"/food"},{"name":"Bay Area Hip-Hop","link":"/bayareahiphop"},{"name":"Rebel Girls","link":"/rebelgirls"},{"name":"Arts Video","link":"/artsvideos"}]},{"key":"menu3","items":[{"name":"Podcasts","link":"/podcasts","type":"title"},{"name":"Bay Curious","link":"/podcasts/baycurious"},{"name":"Rightnowish","link":"/podcasts/rightnowish"},{"name":"The Bay","link":"/podcasts/thebay"},{"name":"On Our Watch","link":"/podcasts/onourwatch"},{"name":"Mindshift","link":"/podcasts/mindshift"},{"name":"Consider This","link":"/podcasts/considerthis"},{"name":"Political Breakdown","link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown"}]},{"key":"menu4","items":[{"name":"Live Radio","link":"/radio","type":"title"},{"name":"TV","link":"/tv","type":"title"},{"name":"Events","link":"/events","type":"title"},{"name":"For Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"science_1991212":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1991212","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1991212","score":null,"sort":[1706040351000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"new-fossils-suggest-kelp-forests-have-swayed-in-the-seas-for-at-least-32-million-years","title":"New Fossils Suggest Kelp Forests Have Swayed in the Seas for at Least 32 Million Years","publishDate":1706040351,"format":"standard","headTitle":"New Fossils Suggest Kelp Forests Have Swayed in the Seas for at Least 32 Million Years | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>The kelp forests that hug the Pacific coastline are an underwater jungle. They’re a thicket of colossal algae intermixed with a pageant of life that includes snails, urchins, sea lions, sea otters, and a host of seabirds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current Pacific kelp forests are the base of very rich shallow marine ecosystems,” says \u003ca href=\"https://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/looy/\">Cindy Looy\u003c/a>, a paleobotanist at the University of California at Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A study published in \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2317054121\">\u003cem>PNAS\u003c/em>\u003c/a> presents new evidence that the first kelps were much older than we once suspected, dating back 32 million years — well before the arrival of many of their present-day animal inhabitants.[aside postID='science_1973217,science_1976045,science_1952335' label='Related coverage']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that kelp was likely available as a food source for ancient marine mammals. And that the foundation of the ecosystem was already in place when kelp later evolved and grew dramatically in height, providing an even greater range of habitats to the ancestors of the animals we associate with them today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Looy gazes out at the Pacific Ocean from Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Monterey, California, she knows the kelp forest with all its attendant species pulsates just below the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just to think,” she says, “that we now added a little tiny piece of the puzzle of when [the kelps] started and how the ecosystem diversified — that makes me very proud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A lucky find at the beach\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jim Goedert is a retired railroad signal inspector. He lives outside of Tacoma, Washington where, for years, he’s regularly driven up to the north side of the Olympic Peninsula to walk along the rocky shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray whales and seals come in, and occasionally orcas,” he says. “There are kelp beds offshore.” At low tide, when large swaths of the beach become exposed, Goedert goes in search of fossils including hard, round masses called concretions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would crack these open,” he says. “And sometimes there’s a crab or some other fossil in these rocks. But I would find these little squiggly veins or roots. I couldn’t really tell what they were.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, during a break on one of his beach walks, Goedert came across a mound that had washed ashore of kelp holdfasts — the root-like structures that fasten the towering algae to the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I thought, ‘That’s what that thing is — kelp,'” he says. “It was just an aha moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goedert packed up some of his best specimens, drove to the post office, and shipped them to Stockholm to a professional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just kept sending me holdfasts,” recounts \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrm.se/english/researchandcollections/palaeobiology/staffandcontacts/steffenkiel.9003235.html\">Steffen Kiel\u003c/a>, a senior curator at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and a collaborator and friend of Goedert’s. Some of the fossils weren’t that impressive but “sometimes they were, like, wow,” he says. Still, “I just left it alone for a few years because, as usual, I had other things to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2288px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991214\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2288\" height=\"1626\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2.jpg 2288w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1020x725.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-768x546.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1536x1092.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-2048x1455.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1920x1364.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2288px) 100vw, 2288px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fossil showing kelp ‘holdfasts,’ the root-like structures that serve to tether the algae to the seafloor. \u003ccite>(Steffen Kiel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Asking a fossil how old it is\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelp fossils are exceedingly rare. “We all know things fossilize — big vertebrates, dinosaurs, things with bones and hard parts,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.ceridwenfraser.com/\">Ceridwyn Fraser\u003c/a>, a marine scientist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. “But kelp is a very squidgy organism.” Plus, says Kiel, “they quickly rot away because they are eaten up by microbes and various animals. Kelps are essential[ly] edible, nutritious soft tissue.” It all adds up to very little kelp making it into the fossil record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, researchers used a single specimen from California to estimate that complex kelps emerged at least 13 or 14 million years ago. (Complex kelps differ from simple kelps in a few ways, including that they have distinct stems and leaves.) More recently, genetics helped push that date back to at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790319300892\">30 million years\u003c/a>. But there was no fossil evidence to back that number up, which made Kiel wonder whether the samples he’d received from Goedert might offer some insight. So eventually, he took a closer look, cutting into them and polishing their surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one, a splotch of root-like tendrils appears to be draped across the rock. “That’s the holdfast,” Kiel says, pointing. “I have various specimens where they were sitting on a bivalve shell, on a clamshell or especially often on barnacles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He took one of those fossilized shells that the kelp had glued itself to and performed a chemical analysis involving strontium isotopes to determine its age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We then knew exactly, pretty much exactly, that these fossils were 32 million years old,” Kiel says. “No doubt about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This result confirms the earlier genetics work, but the fossils are stronger proof that complex kelp dates back to the early Oligocene, a time of dramatic global cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole world’s oceans got a hell [of a] lot colder right at that time,” Kiel says. “Kelp like it cold. So that was a perfect fit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why the earlier arrival of kelp matters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fact that complex kelp has been around for so long means a couple of things. First, it helps resolve a puzzle about an ancient vegetarian marine mammal related to today’s manatees called the desmostylian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were wondering what they were actually feeding on 30 million years ago,” Kiel says. “What kind of green fresh food would there be? And now, our kelp fossils show, yeah, hippo-sized desmostylians most likely were happily feeding on this kelp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s logical, Looy says: “Kelps can grow incredibly fast, and those desmostylians are relatively big, and they have to eat a lot to stay alive.” Now that the researchers know that both kelp and desmostylians were alive at the same time, “we can more or less rewrite the history of the kelp ecosystems,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the second insight: “This whole rich ecosystem that we know now must have gradually evolved,” Looy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is, for millions of years, the kelp ecosystem was quite simple, with the kelps themselves being somewhat short, maybe a few feet tall. Then, around 14 million years ago, much taller kelps evolved, forming the underwater forests we know today. And that’s when a thriving hub of biodiversity slowly began to materialize in this new wealth of vertical habitat — “all these animals that characterize modern kelp ecosystems — full with all sorts of life,” says Kiel, from invertebrates to larger grazers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser, the marine scientist, says the findings are exciting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been approached before by people who thought they had kelp fossils, and I wasn’t convinced,” says Fraser, who wasn’t involved in the study. “But what we’re looking at are very clearly kelp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser studies kelp evolution and how its DNA mutates, something she anchors in time using the fossil record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the annoying thing about kelp is there’s hardly anything known from the fossil record,” Fraser says. “So this will be a tool that I can use now to better understand how kelps are evolving and what’s happened through time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kiel says he’s delighted that, once again, fossils have taught him a familiar yet fundamental lesson about our world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To him, they’re an archive of life throughout Earth’s history — an archive that sometimes washes ashore where all you have to do is look for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+fossils+suggest+kelp+forests+have+swayed+in+the+seas+for+at+least+32+million+years&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A new study of kelp forests from the coast of Washington state show that kelp forests, which host all manner of marine life, developed tens of millions of years ago. ","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1706040142,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":33,"wordCount":1332},"headData":{"title":"New Fossils Suggest Kelp Forests Have Swayed in the Seas for at Least 32 Million Years | KQED","description":"A new study of kelp forests from the coast of Washington state show that kelp forests, which host all manner of marine life, developed tens of millions of years ago. ","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"New Fossils Suggest Kelp Forests Have Swayed in the Seas for at Least 32 Million Years","datePublished":"2024-01-23T20:05:51.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-23T20:02:22.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"NPR","sticky":false,"nprByline":"\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/297147967/ari-daniel\">Ari Daniel\u003c/a>","nprImageAgency":"NOAA","nprStoryId":"1226146217","nprApiLink":"http://api.npr.org/query?id=1226146217&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004","nprHtmlLink":"https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226146217/new-fossils-suggest-kelp-forests-have-swayed-in-the-seas-for-at-least-32-million?ft=nprml&f=1226146217","nprRetrievedStory":"1","nprPubDate":"Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:00 -0500","nprStoryDate":"Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:13 -0500","nprLastModifiedDate":"Tue, 23 Jan 2024 05:00:13 -0500","excludeFromSiteSearch":"Include","showOnAuthorArchivePages":"No","articleAge":"0","path":"/science/1991212/new-fossils-suggest-kelp-forests-have-swayed-in-the-seas-for-at-least-32-million-years","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The kelp forests that hug the Pacific coastline are an underwater jungle. They’re a thicket of colossal algae intermixed with a pageant of life that includes snails, urchins, sea lions, sea otters, and a host of seabirds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The current Pacific kelp forests are the base of very rich shallow marine ecosystems,” says \u003ca href=\"https://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/looy/\">Cindy Looy\u003c/a>, a paleobotanist at the University of California at Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A study published in \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2317054121\">\u003cem>PNAS\u003c/em>\u003c/a> presents new evidence that the first kelps were much older than we once suspected, dating back 32 million years — well before the arrival of many of their present-day animal inhabitants.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"science_1973217,science_1976045,science_1952335","label":"Related coverage "},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This means that kelp was likely available as a food source for ancient marine mammals. And that the foundation of the ecosystem was already in place when kelp later evolved and grew dramatically in height, providing an even greater range of habitats to the ancestors of the animals we associate with them today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Looy gazes out at the Pacific Ocean from Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Monterey, California, she knows the kelp forest with all its attendant species pulsates just below the surface.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just to think,” she says, “that we now added a little tiny piece of the puzzle of when [the kelps] started and how the ecosystem diversified — that makes me very proud.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A lucky find at the beach\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jim Goedert is a retired railroad signal inspector. He lives outside of Tacoma, Washington where, for years, he’s regularly driven up to the north side of the Olympic Peninsula to walk along the rocky shoreline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gray whales and seals come in, and occasionally orcas,” he says. “There are kelp beds offshore.” At low tide, when large swaths of the beach become exposed, Goedert goes in search of fossils including hard, round masses called concretions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would crack these open,” he says. “And sometimes there’s a crab or some other fossil in these rocks. But I would find these little squiggly veins or roots. I couldn’t really tell what they were.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day, during a break on one of his beach walks, Goedert came across a mound that had washed ashore of kelp holdfasts — the root-like structures that fasten the towering algae to the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I thought, ‘That’s what that thing is — kelp,'” he says. “It was just an aha moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goedert packed up some of his best specimens, drove to the post office, and shipped them to Stockholm to a professional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He just kept sending me holdfasts,” recounts \u003ca href=\"https://www.nrm.se/english/researchandcollections/palaeobiology/staffandcontacts/steffenkiel.9003235.html\">Steffen Kiel\u003c/a>, a senior curator at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and a collaborator and friend of Goedert’s. Some of the fossils weren’t that impressive but “sometimes they were, like, wow,” he says. Still, “I just left it alone for a few years because, as usual, I had other things to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1991214\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2288px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1991214\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2288\" height=\"1626\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2.jpg 2288w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1020x725.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-768x546.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1536x1092.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-2048x1455.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2024/01/s169277_fossil_kelp_holdfast_custom-de5c315f6055f703f989b0c2da4d52bba05252a2-1920x1364.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2288px) 100vw, 2288px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fossil showing kelp ‘holdfasts,’ the root-like structures that serve to tether the algae to the seafloor. \u003ccite>(Steffen Kiel)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Asking a fossil how old it is\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Kelp fossils are exceedingly rare. “We all know things fossilize — big vertebrates, dinosaurs, things with bones and hard parts,” says \u003ca href=\"https://www.ceridwenfraser.com/\">Ceridwyn Fraser\u003c/a>, a marine scientist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. “But kelp is a very squidgy organism.” Plus, says Kiel, “they quickly rot away because they are eaten up by microbes and various animals. Kelps are essential[ly] edible, nutritious soft tissue.” It all adds up to very little kelp making it into the fossil record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years ago, researchers used a single specimen from California to estimate that complex kelps emerged at least 13 or 14 million years ago. (Complex kelps differ from simple kelps in a few ways, including that they have distinct stems and leaves.) More recently, genetics helped push that date back to at least \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790319300892\">30 million years\u003c/a>. But there was no fossil evidence to back that number up, which made Kiel wonder whether the samples he’d received from Goedert might offer some insight. So eventually, he took a closer look, cutting into them and polishing their surfaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one, a splotch of root-like tendrils appears to be draped across the rock. “That’s the holdfast,” Kiel says, pointing. “I have various specimens where they were sitting on a bivalve shell, on a clamshell or especially often on barnacles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He took one of those fossilized shells that the kelp had glued itself to and performed a chemical analysis involving strontium isotopes to determine its age.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We then knew exactly, pretty much exactly, that these fossils were 32 million years old,” Kiel says. “No doubt about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This result confirms the earlier genetics work, but the fossils are stronger proof that complex kelp dates back to the early Oligocene, a time of dramatic global cooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole world’s oceans got a hell [of a] lot colder right at that time,” Kiel says. “Kelp like it cold. So that was a perfect fit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why the earlier arrival of kelp matters\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fact that complex kelp has been around for so long means a couple of things. First, it helps resolve a puzzle about an ancient vegetarian marine mammal related to today’s manatees called the desmostylian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People were wondering what they were actually feeding on 30 million years ago,” Kiel says. “What kind of green fresh food would there be? And now, our kelp fossils show, yeah, hippo-sized desmostylians most likely were happily feeding on this kelp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s logical, Looy says: “Kelps can grow incredibly fast, and those desmostylians are relatively big, and they have to eat a lot to stay alive.” Now that the researchers know that both kelp and desmostylians were alive at the same time, “we can more or less rewrite the history of the kelp ecosystems,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the second insight: “This whole rich ecosystem that we know now must have gradually evolved,” Looy says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That is, for millions of years, the kelp ecosystem was quite simple, with the kelps themselves being somewhat short, maybe a few feet tall. Then, around 14 million years ago, much taller kelps evolved, forming the underwater forests we know today. And that’s when a thriving hub of biodiversity slowly began to materialize in this new wealth of vertical habitat — “all these animals that characterize modern kelp ecosystems — full with all sorts of life,” says Kiel, from invertebrates to larger grazers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser, the marine scientist, says the findings are exciting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been approached before by people who thought they had kelp fossils, and I wasn’t convinced,” says Fraser, who wasn’t involved in the study. “But what we’re looking at are very clearly kelp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fraser studies kelp evolution and how its DNA mutates, something she anchors in time using the fossil record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And the annoying thing about kelp is there’s hardly anything known from the fossil record,” Fraser says. “So this will be a tool that I can use now to better understand how kelps are evolving and what’s happened through time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kiel says he’s delighted that, once again, fossils have taught him a familiar yet fundamental lesson about our world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To him, they’re an archive of life throughout Earth’s history — an archive that sometimes washes ashore where all you have to do is look for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">\u003cem>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=New+fossils+suggest+kelp+forests+have+swayed+in+the+seas+for+at+least+32+million+years&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/em>\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1991212/new-fossils-suggest-kelp-forests-have-swayed-in-the-seas-for-at-least-32-million-years","authors":["byline_science_1991212"],"categories":["science_2874","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_4450"],"tags":["science_323","science_5196","science_349","science_3265","science_2549","science_843","science_1155"],"featImg":"science_1991213","label":"source_science_1991212"},"science_1976045":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1976045","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1976045","score":null,"sort":[1628859636000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"trapping-millions-of-zombie-urchins-could-restore-californias-once-mighty-kelp-forests","title":"Trapping Millions of 'Zombie' Urchins Could Restore California's Once Mighty Kelp Forests","publishDate":1628859636,"format":"image","headTitle":"Trapping Millions of ‘Zombie’ Urchins Could Restore California’s Once Mighty Kelp Forests | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Grant Downie is cruising through Caspar Bay, a small cove 150 miles north of San Francisco on the rugged Mendocino County coast. From the helm of his 18-foot fishing boat, The Rose, Downie steers along the jagged cliffs that surround a pristine beach at the shore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sea in this protected inlet appears peaceful and calm. But below the surface, all is not well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align='right' citation='Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz']‘Let there be no question. These forests will not recover until urchin numbers have been reduced low enough and their behavior shifts back to remaining in cracks and crevices.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Down in the dark green water, hundreds of thousands of spiny purple sea urchins are scavenging the few remaining scraps of bull kelp, a leafy seaweed that once canopied California’s coastal waters from San Francisco to Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kelp provides habitat for countless marine species and captures carbon from the water and the atmosphere. But scientists say climate change is threatening kelp forests around the globe. In the last five years around 95% of Northern California’s bull kelp canopy was devoured by an influx of hungry sea urchins, aided by a temporary spike in ocean temperatures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was one of the first areas we saw the \u003ci>purps\u003c/i> really taking over,” says Downie, a 33-year-old second-generation commercial urchin fisherman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By “purps,” he means purple sea urchins. Of course, it could also be “perps,” as in \u003ci>perpetrators\u003c/i>. These ping pong-ball sized critters sprout sharp, violet purple spines, in all directions, and have voracious appetites for kelp and other algae. (They’ve also been known to devour jelly fish and even bird carcasses.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976054\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Nature Conservancy, a science-based nonprofit, is studying different ways to remove purple sea urchins so kelp forests can rebound. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Downie kills the engine and we drift up to a buoy that’s connected by 20 feet of rope to a flat, hula hoop-shaped mesh trap. For two days, it’s been lying on the craggy ocean bottom, baited with strips of bull kelp, quietly attracting the purple urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp once thrived in places like Caspar Bay. Now, Downie says the ocean floor is lined with bare rock and purple urchins. “There are reefs where it’s like a carpet of purple urchin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hoists up the line, yelping with pleasure as a mound of urchins spill onto the deck. Urchins on top of urchins, some weren’t even able to reach the kelp, but “were just on the trap because the kelp was there,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s left of the bull kelp is a ragged green mass, covered in bite marks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hammered it,” Downie says, describing the amount of kelp eaten by the urchin as “insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick count reveals the trap brought up more than 300 of the spiny invertebrates — a new personal record for Downie with a single trap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Collapse of a Forest\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downie’s trapping work is part of a research project spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy, a science-based nonprofit in search of solutions to pave the way for kelp’s recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> collapse of California’s kelp forests\u003c/a> is complicated, but goes something like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2014, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/looking-back-blob-record-warming-drives-unprecedented-ocean-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">warm water blob \u003c/a> from the Pacific Northwest combined with an El Niño pulse from the south to create a large, prolonged \u003ca href=\"https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/03/kelp-forests-norcal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> ocean heat wave\u003c/a>. Water temperatures spiked nearly 7 degrees Fahrenheit above average in spots along the West Coast. Kelp thrives in colder waters, which have more of the nutrients it needs to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hardy kelp may have recovered naturally after the heat wave passed. But a second ecological disaster, potentially related to the warm waters, struck. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1937467/historic-sea-star-die-off-tied-to-global-warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> disease\u003c/a> killed most of the sea stars on the West Coast, including the 24-limbed, bicycle-wheel-sized sunflower star that feasts on purple sea urchins. Without these predators around, the urchin population swelled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urchins, typically concealed in protective, rocky crevasses where they patiently wait for fallen kelp leaves, came out of hiding and mowed down the forest, stalks and all. The state’s North Coast got hit the hardest. The kelp in Central and Southern California waters fared somewhat better because other predators there, like sea otters and lobsters, also eat urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For kelp to rebound, scientists first need to figure out how to remove millions of urchins from California waters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N7APOWQkWs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A pile of purple sea urchins collects on a underwater trap in Caspar Bay. (Colin McHugh)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let there be no question,” says Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz marine ecology professor not affiliated with the Nature Conservancy project, “these forests will not recover until urchin numbers have been reduced low enough and their behavior shifts back to remaining in cracks and crevices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A New Solution\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past few years, scientists and wildlife managers have begun testing different solutions for solving the purple urchin problem. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/show/crosscurrents/2019-10-31/california-divers-fight-to-turn-the-tide-on-a-collapsing-ecosystem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> well-documented approach\u003c/a> has been to deploy scuba divers to harvest urchins by hand-plucking them off reefs. But diving is expensive and potentially dangerous in strong currents or bad weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Urchin trapping has been proposed as a comparatively safe and cost-effective way to cull a ton of urchin and safeguard kelp’s recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got these cleared areas in the harbor where we want the kelp to grow back,” Downie says, “Let’s just set traps all around it so that when the urchins come, they’re going to be in the traps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since no one’s ever tried using traps to catch urchins along the West Coast, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife granted the Nature Conservancy project a special permit to test out the method. Downie designed the traps himself: the flat-as-a-pancake version and another with collapsible walls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976053\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grant Downie rigs an urchin trap with bull kelp and a GoPro camera. A single trap can capture more than 300 purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You might think so many urchins would be good news for an urchin fisherman. But Downie makes a living scuba diving for the larger and meatier red sea urchins, the kind you pay $8 a piece for at sushi bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only a fraction of purple urchins grow big enough to eat. When they moved in, he says the red ones died or moved on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since this whole disaster, I’m hardly making a quarter of what I used to,” Downie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disappearance of kelp has crippled other marine ecosystems, like the rockfish and red abalone fisheries that were once staples of the Northern California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just hurting the urchin divers,” Downie says. “That was a huge income for so many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wake of the ecological and economic collapse, Downie decided to use his knowledge of urchins to help scientists find a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had heard about the trapping project and I said, ‘Hey, I think it should stay urchin-based,’’’ he says. “We’re not trappers per se, and this [contract] could have gone to a crabber or somebody like that. But our industry is in decline, we’re looking for help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy pays Downie for his work, and he now represents the North Coast region on a state commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Zombie Urchins Survive for Decades Without Eating\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without much kelp left to eat, most of the urchins Downie pulls from the water are starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the outside they look fine, on the inside they’re everything but fine,” says Tristin McHugh, an ecologist who directs the kelp recovery project for the Nature Conservancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean they’ll die-off naturally. These zombie urchins, as scientists call them, can survive for decades, biding their time until more kelp grows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some places in the world known to have them for 70-plus years in that state,” McHugh says. Which means it may be up to humans to tip the scales back in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The inside of what scientists call a “zombie urchin.” Urchins can survive decades in this state. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other methods scientists are exploring for urchin removal include reintroducing natural predators, like sea stars or sea otters. Researchers at the University of Washington have begun the first-ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgcCjpXt7Ac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">captive breeding program\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for sunflower stars, which still haven’t bounced back in California since the disease wiped them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each method has potential benefits and challenges, which include cost, safety, feasibility and regulatory hurdles, to name just a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> research shows \u003c/a> that sea otters eat urchins along the Central Coast, helping maintain patches of healthy kelp forest, Mark Carr from UC Santa Cruz, says it’s unlikely they would go after the zombies that blanket large areas of ocean floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The otters are not going to go out and waste their time and energy feeding on urchins that have very low nutritional value,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it pans out, urchin trapping has the potential to do some heavy lifting for conservation, especially when diving isn’t practical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By using traps, you may be able to extend your season for getting into the water,” says James Ray, a kelp specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “And you can target specific areas on a more constant basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By creating strongholds for kelp along the coast, he says, the forest may be better equipped to withstand future threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trapping has its limitations, too. Divers can swim right up to urchins, but dropping traps requires some guesswork. Trappers must hope that the urchins will be in expected locations. While trapping is less expensive than diving, it’s still costly and requires continual effort, whereas introducing predators may eventually sustain itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976056\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Nature Conservancy’s kelp project director Tristin McHugh points out the spore packet on a healthy bull kelp frond in Caspar Bay. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ray, who’s been collaborating with the Nature Conservancy’s kelp recovery research, says no one method will be the “silver bullet answer.” He says trapping and diving could potentially work together, in tandem with other methods, as wildlife managers try to scale up solutions from small patches to the entire coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any solution,” he says, “is likely going to be a sort of a mosaic of smaller solutions that all work, ultimately, towards trying to increase resiliency in our kelp forest ecosystems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh agrees with the kitchen sink approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We almost want these very simple, singular solutions,” she says, “But the really key piece right now is figuring out how many different methods we can utilize and facilitate this shift back into a kelp forest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy currently donates the urchin carcasses to a company for composting. But McHugh says the long-term goal is to find a commercial market for the calcium-rich shells, like fertilizer or even road building materials, to help fund urchin removals on a larger scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone needs to buy the urchin because we can’t necessarily rely on grant funds or philanthropic funds,” she says. “We need to figure out how we can utilize purple urchin, whether it’s for soil additives or for pavement or whatever it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Golden Tendrils’ of Hope\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there hasn’t been significant recovery of bull kelp in Northern California since the marine heat wave, there is some reason for hope. Ocean temperatures have normalized, restoring nutrients to a level “that can sustain kelp growth and productivity,” Ray says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While climate change increases the likelihood of warming events, kelp is known for its resiliency, replenishing itself every year from new spores and growing up to 2 feet a day. Along the North Coast, there have recently beens some \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/Northern-California-kelp-forest-shows-signs-of-16375965.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preliminary reports\u003c/a> of kelp beginning to reemerge in some areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Case in point: Back in Caspar Bay, McHugh kayaks close to the beach, where the sandy bottom prevents urchins from moving in. Surrounding her on all sides is a healthy canopy of bull kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just these glorious golden tendrils of kelp just floating, creating this wonderful canopy that houses tons of marine life, turns over carbon for us, just does everything that you would possibly want a canopy forming species to do,” McHugh says, “It’s currently doing for us right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hasn’t seen kelp in this cove in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can actually see the spore packets on the blades of the kelp getting ready to drop,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A single packet holds millions of spores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once they reach the seafloor, McHugh says, “male and female will find each other and they’ll wait for the next opportune ocean conditions to start growing and begin their life cycle again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sign, she says, that if scientists can get rid of the urchins, California’s underwater forests will have a chance to return.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"In the last five years around 95% of Northern California’s bull kelp canopy was devoured by an influx of hungry sea urchins.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704846474,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":true,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":66,"wordCount":2262},"headData":{"title":"Trapping Millions of 'Zombie' Urchins Could Restore California's Once Mighty Kelp Forests | KQED","description":"In the last five years around 95% of Northern California’s bull kelp canopy was devoured by an influx of hungry sea urchins.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Trapping Millions of 'Zombie' Urchins Could Restore California's Once Mighty Kelp Forests","datePublished":"2021-08-13T13:00:36.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:27:54.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Oceans","audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/973bdde5-93c2-414d-acea-ad830115b6dc/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1976045/trapping-millions-of-zombie-urchins-could-restore-californias-once-mighty-kelp-forests","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Grant Downie is cruising through Caspar Bay, a small cove 150 miles north of San Francisco on the rugged Mendocino County coast. From the helm of his 18-foot fishing boat, The Rose, Downie steers along the jagged cliffs that surround a pristine beach at the shore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The sea in this protected inlet appears peaceful and calm. But below the surface, all is not well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"‘Let there be no question. These forests will not recover until urchin numbers have been reduced low enough and their behavior shifts back to remaining in cracks and crevices.’","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","citation":"Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Down in the dark green water, hundreds of thousands of spiny purple sea urchins are scavenging the few remaining scraps of bull kelp, a leafy seaweed that once canopied California’s coastal waters from San Francisco to Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kelp provides habitat for countless marine species and captures carbon from the water and the atmosphere. But scientists say climate change is threatening kelp forests around the globe. In the last five years around 95% of Northern California’s bull kelp canopy was devoured by an influx of hungry sea urchins, aided by a temporary spike in ocean temperatures.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was one of the first areas we saw the \u003ci>purps\u003c/i> really taking over,” says Downie, a 33-year-old second-generation commercial urchin fisherman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By “purps,” he means purple sea urchins. Of course, it could also be “perps,” as in \u003ci>perpetrators\u003c/i>. These ping pong-ball sized critters sprout sharp, violet purple spines, in all directions, and have voracious appetites for kelp and other algae. (They’ve also been known to devour jelly fish and even bird carcasses.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976054\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976054\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-3-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Nature Conservancy, a science-based nonprofit, is studying different ways to remove purple sea urchins so kelp forests can rebound. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Downie kills the engine and we drift up to a buoy that’s connected by 20 feet of rope to a flat, hula hoop-shaped mesh trap. For two days, it’s been lying on the craggy ocean bottom, baited with strips of bull kelp, quietly attracting the purple urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp once thrived in places like Caspar Bay. Now, Downie says the ocean floor is lined with bare rock and purple urchins. “There are reefs where it’s like a carpet of purple urchin.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He hoists up the line, yelping with pleasure as a mound of urchins spill onto the deck. Urchins on top of urchins, some weren’t even able to reach the kelp, but “were just on the trap because the kelp was there,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s left of the bull kelp is a ragged green mass, covered in bite marks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hammered it,” Downie says, describing the amount of kelp eaten by the urchin as “insane.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A quick count reveals the trap brought up more than 300 of the spiny invertebrates — a new personal record for Downie with a single trap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Collapse of a Forest\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Downie’s trapping work is part of a research project spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy, a science-based nonprofit in search of solutions to pave the way for kelp’s recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> collapse of California’s kelp forests\u003c/a> is complicated, but goes something like this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around 2014, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/looking-back-blob-record-warming-drives-unprecedented-ocean-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">warm water blob \u003c/a> from the Pacific Northwest combined with an El Niño pulse from the south to create a large, prolonged \u003ca href=\"https://news.ucsc.edu/2021/03/kelp-forests-norcal.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> ocean heat wave\u003c/a>. Water temperatures spiked nearly 7 degrees Fahrenheit above average in spots along the West Coast. Kelp thrives in colder waters, which have more of the nutrients it needs to survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hardy kelp may have recovered naturally after the heat wave passed. But a second ecological disaster, potentially related to the warm waters, struck. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1937467/historic-sea-star-die-off-tied-to-global-warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> disease\u003c/a> killed most of the sea stars on the West Coast, including the 24-limbed, bicycle-wheel-sized sunflower star that feasts on purple sea urchins. Without these predators around, the urchin population swelled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The urchins, typically concealed in protective, rocky crevasses where they patiently wait for fallen kelp leaves, came out of hiding and mowed down the forest, stalks and all. The state’s North Coast got hit the hardest. The kelp in Central and Southern California waters fared somewhat better because other predators there, like sea otters and lobsters, also eat urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For kelp to rebound, scientists first need to figure out how to remove millions of urchins from California waters.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/2N7APOWQkWs'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/2N7APOWQkWs'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>A pile of purple sea urchins collects on a underwater trap in Caspar Bay. (Colin McHugh)\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let there be no question,” says Mark Carr, a UC Santa Cruz marine ecology professor not affiliated with the Nature Conservancy project, “these forests will not recover until urchin numbers have been reduced low enough and their behavior shifts back to remaining in cracks and crevices.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>A New Solution\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past few years, scientists and wildlife managers have begun testing different solutions for solving the purple urchin problem. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.kalw.org/show/crosscurrents/2019-10-31/california-divers-fight-to-turn-the-tide-on-a-collapsing-ecosystem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> well-documented approach\u003c/a> has been to deploy scuba divers to harvest urchins by hand-plucking them off reefs. But diving is expensive and potentially dangerous in strong currents or bad weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Urchin trapping has been proposed as a comparatively safe and cost-effective way to cull a ton of urchin and safeguard kelp’s recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve got these cleared areas in the harbor where we want the kelp to grow back,” Downie says, “Let’s just set traps all around it so that when the urchins come, they’re going to be in the traps.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since no one’s ever tried using traps to catch urchins along the West Coast, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife granted the Nature Conservancy project a special permit to test out the method. Downie designed the traps himself: the flat-as-a-pancake version and another with collapsible walls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976053\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grant Downie rigs an urchin trap with bull kelp and a GoPro camera. A single trap can capture more than 300 purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>You might think so many urchins would be good news for an urchin fisherman. But Downie makes a living scuba diving for the larger and meatier red sea urchins, the kind you pay $8 a piece for at sushi bars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Only a fraction of purple urchins grow big enough to eat. When they moved in, he says the red ones died or moved on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since this whole disaster, I’m hardly making a quarter of what I used to,” Downie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disappearance of kelp has crippled other marine ecosystems, like the rockfish and red abalone fisheries that were once staples of the Northern California coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not just hurting the urchin divers,” Downie says. “That was a huge income for so many people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the wake of the ecological and economic collapse, Downie decided to use his knowledge of urchins to help scientists find a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had heard about the trapping project and I said, ‘Hey, I think it should stay urchin-based,’’’ he says. “We’re not trappers per se, and this [contract] could have gone to a crabber or somebody like that. But our industry is in decline, we’re looking for help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy pays Downie for his work, and he now represents the North Coast region on a state commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Zombie Urchins Survive for Decades Without Eating\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without much kelp left to eat, most of the urchins Downie pulls from the water are starving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On the outside they look fine, on the inside they’re everything but fine,” says Tristin McHugh, an ecologist who directs the kelp recovery project for the Nature Conservancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean they’ll die-off naturally. These zombie urchins, as scientists call them, can survive for decades, biding their time until more kelp grows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are some places in the world known to have them for 70-plus years in that state,” McHugh says. Which means it may be up to humans to tip the scales back in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-5-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The inside of what scientists call a “zombie urchin.” Urchins can survive decades in this state. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other methods scientists are exploring for urchin removal include reintroducing natural predators, like sea stars or sea otters. Researchers at the University of Washington have begun the first-ever \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgcCjpXt7Ac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">captive breeding program\u003c/span>\u003c/a> for sunflower stars, which still haven’t bounced back in California since the disease wiped them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each method has potential benefits and challenges, which include cost, safety, feasibility and regulatory hurdles, to name just a few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> research shows \u003c/a> that sea otters eat urchins along the Central Coast, helping maintain patches of healthy kelp forest, Mark Carr from UC Santa Cruz, says it’s unlikely they would go after the zombies that blanket large areas of ocean floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The otters are not going to go out and waste their time and energy feeding on urchins that have very low nutritional value,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it pans out, urchin trapping has the potential to do some heavy lifting for conservation, especially when diving isn’t practical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“By using traps, you may be able to extend your season for getting into the water,” says James Ray, a kelp specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “And you can target specific areas on a more constant basis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By creating strongholds for kelp along the coast, he says, the forest may be better equipped to withstand future threats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But trapping has its limitations, too. Divers can swim right up to urchins, but dropping traps requires some guesswork. Trappers must hope that the urchins will be in expected locations. While trapping is less expensive than diving, it’s still costly and requires continual effort, whereas introducing predators may eventually sustain itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1976056\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1976056\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/07/Kelp-4-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Nature Conservancy’s kelp project director Tristin McHugh points out the spore packet on a healthy bull kelp frond in Caspar Bay. \u003ccite>(Peter Arcuni/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ray, who’s been collaborating with the Nature Conservancy’s kelp recovery research, says no one method will be the “silver bullet answer.” He says trapping and diving could potentially work together, in tandem with other methods, as wildlife managers try to scale up solutions from small patches to the entire coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any solution,” he says, “is likely going to be a sort of a mosaic of smaller solutions that all work, ultimately, towards trying to increase resiliency in our kelp forest ecosystems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh agrees with the kitchen sink approach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We almost want these very simple, singular solutions,” she says, “But the really key piece right now is figuring out how many different methods we can utilize and facilitate this shift back into a kelp forest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Nature Conservancy currently donates the urchin carcasses to a company for composting. But McHugh says the long-term goal is to find a commercial market for the calcium-rich shells, like fertilizer or even road building materials, to help fund urchin removals on a larger scale.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Someone needs to buy the urchin because we can’t necessarily rely on grant funds or philanthropic funds,” she says. “We need to figure out how we can utilize purple urchin, whether it’s for soil additives or for pavement or whatever it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>‘Golden Tendrils’ of Hope\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While there hasn’t been significant recovery of bull kelp in Northern California since the marine heat wave, there is some reason for hope. Ocean temperatures have normalized, restoring nutrients to a level “that can sustain kelp growth and productivity,” Ray says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While climate change increases the likelihood of warming events, kelp is known for its resiliency, replenishing itself every year from new spores and growing up to 2 feet a day. Along the North Coast, there have recently beens some \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/Northern-California-kelp-forest-shows-signs-of-16375965.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preliminary reports\u003c/a> of kelp beginning to reemerge in some areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Case in point: Back in Caspar Bay, McHugh kayaks close to the beach, where the sandy bottom prevents urchins from moving in. Surrounding her on all sides is a healthy canopy of bull kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just these glorious golden tendrils of kelp just floating, creating this wonderful canopy that houses tons of marine life, turns over carbon for us, just does everything that you would possibly want a canopy forming species to do,” McHugh says, “It’s currently doing for us right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She hasn’t seen kelp in this cove in years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can actually see the spore packets on the blades of the kelp getting ready to drop,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A single packet holds millions of spores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once they reach the seafloor, McHugh says, “male and female will find each other and they’ll wait for the next opportune ocean conditions to start growing and begin their life cycle again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a sign, she says, that if scientists can get rid of the urchins, California’s underwater forests will have a chance to return.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1976045/trapping-millions-of-zombie-urchins-could-restore-californias-once-mighty-kelp-forests","authors":["11368"],"categories":["science_2874","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_2873","science_4450"],"tags":["science_194","science_4414","science_3265","science_324"],"featImg":"science_1976052","label":"source_science_1976045"},"science_1973217":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1973217","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1973217","score":null,"sort":[1615850446000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp","title":"Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay","publishDate":1615850446,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who’s Eating Who in Monterey Bay | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"California's underwater kelp forests are suffering massive declines. But a new study shows that sea otters are helping to preserve kelp off the Central Coast.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704846718,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":2,"wordCount":1032},"headData":{"title":"Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay | KQED","description":"California's underwater kelp forests are suffering massive declines. But a new study shows that sea otters are helping to preserve kelp off the Central Coast.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Kelp, Sea Otters and Urchins. Who's Eating Who in Monterey Bay","datePublished":"2021-03-15T23:20:46.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:31:58.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Oceans","audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-4[…]f-aaef00f5a073/d251c616-163b-4359-bf5c-ace6012b11a8/audio.mp3","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp","audioDuration":281000,"audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Marine scientists have observed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">massive decline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> of California’s underwater kelp forests in recent years. Studies have linked the die-off to a host of factors including an ocean heat wave, a deadly sea star virus, and an influx of voracious kelp-eating sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Kelp’s long flat leaves and bulbous stems provide habitat for marine mammals, fish and invertebrates in tidal regions along California’s coast. In many regions where kelp once flourished, the ocean floor is now carpeted with spiny purple sea urchins and there’s no kelp to be found. Scientists call these zones the urchin barrens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">A new study out of UC Santa Cruz reveals more about the disappearance of California’s kelp forests, finding the leafy green seaweed is faring better in places where sea otters, a natural urchin predator, are thriving.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973221\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973221\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/urchin-barren-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most of the kelp forest ecosystem in Northern California has been replaced by urchin barrens dominated by purple sea urchins. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/CDFW)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Several studies have documented the collapse of the kelp ecosystem in California. The story goes something like this: A giant, warm-water “blob” first observed by scientists off the Washington coast in 2013 combined with an El Nino weather event from the south resulted in a prolonged marine heatwave in California from 2014-16. Kelp thrives in colder tidal waters, which have the nutrients it needs to survive. Faced with warmer water, the kelp essentially starved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The historically hardy plant, which can grow up to 2 feet per day, could have bounced back from the heat wave, but for a disease that that nearly eradicated sunflower stars along the West Coast. This large, 24-limbed starfish feeds on purple sea urchins; without stars around, urchin populations swelled and changed their typical hunting behavior. Instead of merely grazing on fallen kelp leaves, the urchins began gobbling up the kelp’s stalks and seed pods as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In Northern California, satellite images have revealed a roughly 95% decline in kelp forest canopy as a result of these events. But in Central California waters, kelp has fared somewhat better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The Central Coast saw a similar urchin outbreak in 2014, says Joshua Smith, a Ph.D. candidate and kelp forest researcher at UC Santa Cruz. “But what was different here was that instead of having this widespread kelp deforestation, we actually had this patchy mosaic of kelp forests interspersed with these patches of sea urchin barrens\u003ci>,” \u003c/i>he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973227\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Healthy-Kelp-2-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A healthy forest of giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Smith says this unique phenomenon gave his group an opportunity to look closer at the factors driving the kelp decline and its potential for recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The \u003ca href=\"https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2012493118\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, published this week in \u003cspan class=\"s2\">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\u003c/span>, links the presence of sea otters in Monterey Bay to patches of lush, healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Smith called Monterey Bay “sea otter country,” pointing out more of the species inhabited the area than any other in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">\u003ci>“\u003c/i>This is a sea otter country,” Smith said. “We have the highest abundance of sea otters here in Monterey Bay than anywhere else in the state\u003ci>.”\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">Sea otters, like sunflower stars, are a natural predator of sea urchins. \u003ci> \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">“The key finding of what this actually means is that otters are so important for this ecosystem because they are maintaining these remnant patches of kelp forests,” Smith said, “And those patches of kelp are the ultimate source populations to help replenish those barren patches.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">The study shows that the sea otter population in Monterey Bay grew in the wake of the urchin boom, with an increased survival rate for pups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p3\">While scientists can’t say for sure, the lack of sea otters and other urchin predators north of the San Francisco Bay may help explain why Northern California’s kelp forests have suffered more than on other parts of the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1973226\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1973226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2021/03/Urchin-on-Kelp-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins feeding on kelp. \u003ccite>(Michael Langhans)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Sea otters haven’t been spotted on the North Coast since the 1800s, says Meredith McPherson, a UC Santa Cruz marine scientist who recently published \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01827-6\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">a separate study\u003c/span>\u003c/a> on Northern California’s kelp decline. “From what we observed in the satellite data from the last 35 years, the kelp had been doing well without sea otters as long as we still had sunflower stars. Once they were gone, there were no urchin predators left in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Without natural predators, McPherson says, scuba divers are helping maintain what’s left of the region’s kelp forests by plucking out interloping urchins. But while ocean temperatures and nutrient levels have normalized some since the 2014-16 heat waves, she says kelp haven’t seen any significant rebound.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“There seems to be some evidence that some patches of kelp have reemerged in certain areas, but it’s nothing to the extent that we would expect from the historical data,” she said. “The concentrations of urchins are still really high and [are] creating the strong grazing pressure on any kind of recovery.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">McPherson says while the urchin barrens persist, a full-scale kelp recovery is unlikely. Even without kelp to eat, urchins have shown resilience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“That’s where some people have used the term zombie urchin,” Smith said. “These urchins are remarkable in that they can persist in this starved state in the sea urchin barrens for years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">Smith’s study revealed that otters largely ignore urchins in the barrens, as they lack the nutritional value of those that have kelp to forage on. Scientists say another environmental event will likely be needed to reduce urchin populations and tip the scales in favor of kelp.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">“A number of things could take out the urchins.” Smith said. “It could be urchin disease or it could be a bottom-scouring swell that physically wipes sea urchins off the reef.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p4\">In the meantime, otters may be key to kelp’s chance for a long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1973217/in-central-california-sea-otters-feast-on-purple-urchins-and-thats-good-for-kelp","authors":["11368"],"categories":["science_2874","science_46","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_2873","science_43","science_4450","science_3423"],"tags":["science_194","science_371","science_3265","science_324","science_3266"],"featImg":"science_1973220","label":"source_science_1973217"},"science_1949757":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1949757","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1949757","score":null,"sort":[1571787723000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins","title":"Massive California Kelp Decline Linked to Ocean Heat, Voracious Sea Urchins","publishDate":1571787723,"format":"standard","headTitle":"Massive California Kelp Decline Linked to Ocean Heat, Voracious Sea Urchins | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Envision California’s lush forests from San Francisco to the Oregon border. Now imagine that 90 percent of those forests disappear within two years. Laura Rogers-Bennett, senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says that’s exactly what happened to underwater kelp forests off Northern California’s coastline from 2014-16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51114-y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis published this week\u003c/a> in \u003cem>Scientific Reports\u003c/em> documents the rapid decline of California’s bull kelp. The study links the reduction in the seaweed’s population to a confluence of environmental and ecological stressors, including a marine heat wave, a sea star die-off and the emergence of an “urchin barrens,” large swaths of subtidal zones overtaken by kelp-hungry purple sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1949763\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1949763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/10/Katie-Sowul-CDFW-Urchin-Barren-surrounds-Red-Abalone-800x462.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"462\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins have overtaken California waters, grazing down forests of bull kelp. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/California Department of Fish and Wildlife)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett, who monitors kelp forests in partnership with the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, says taken together, these strains on the kelp population threaten the greater coastal ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are finding out,” she says, “that if we cross some of these thresholds, that the system will collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Observers are now noting kelp deforestation off the Oregon coast and in California south of San Francisco to Monterey Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ripple Effects \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper, published Monday, points to \u003ca href=\"https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/unprecedented-number-of-warm-water-species-moved-northward-during-marine-heatwave/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">intense ocean warming\u003c/a> recorded in Northern California waters from 2014-17 as a major cause for the decline of the kelp forest. Kelp relies on nitrogen to thrive, but that element decreases as the ocean heats up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett says as temperatures cooled back down, bull kelp, a resilient species, would normally have recovered. But warmer ocean temperatures created other conditions that accelerated the decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, an outbreak of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/30/690003678/massive-starfish-die-off-is-tied-to-global-warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sea star wasting disease\u003c/a> linked to the warm ocean “blob” led to the mass die-off of 20 starfish species along the West Coast. In California, the disease decimated sea stars from San Mateo to Mendocino counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A primary food source for sea stars is urchins, which in turn feed on kelp. Without starfish to keep urchin populations in check, the number of purple sea urchins swelled beginning in 2014. The following year, says the analysis in \u003cem>Scientific Reports\u003c/em>, “purple sea urchins shifted to a more aggressive feeding behavior,” devouring more layers of the kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Other Species Affected\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deforestation of Northern California’s kelp affects other species that rely on it for sustenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, in 2017, abalone stocks in the region were down by 80 percent. That led the recreational red abalone fishery to shut down in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you envision the land … without the forest, there’d be many animals that would be starving, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Rogers-Bennett says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are picking up and detecting what’s happening with the abalone, but they’re just an indicator species of that whole suite of organisms that depend on the kelp forest, that are all starving or have no homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Restoring the Forest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to help restore the kelp forest, Rogers-Bennett says, is to harvest urchins for human consumption. Uni, or sea urchin gonads, is a premium menu item at many sushi restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett says that while the scarcity of kelp harms the health and harvestability of wild urchins, relocating them to designated urchin farms, where they could be fed algae and other nutrients, could be a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This goes beyond sustainable farming, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re actually having a restorative seafood product because the more you eat of urchin, the better it is for the kelp forest,” she said. “So you’re restoring the kelp forest by eliminating that grazing pressure from those urchin that are just eating everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett and colleagues are in the process of \u003ca href=\"https://farallones.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bull-Kelp-Recovery-Plan-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">identifying pockets of coastal waters\u003c/a> off Sonoma and Mendocino counties where harvesters could remove urchins to bolster the recovery of California’s kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"A new study link the underwater deforestation of Northern California's kelp canopy to a deadly combination of environmental factors, including an ocean heat wave and the swell of purple sea urchin populations.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704848208,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":23,"wordCount":690},"headData":{"title":"Massive California Kelp Decline Linked to Ocean Heat, Voracious Sea Urchins | KQED","description":"A new study link the underwater deforestation of Northern California's kelp canopy to a deadly combination of environmental factors, including an ocean heat wave and the swell of purple sea urchin populations.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Massive California Kelp Decline Linked to Ocean Heat, Voracious Sea Urchins","datePublished":"2019-10-22T23:42:03.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T00:56:48.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Oceans","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Envision California’s lush forests from San Francisco to the Oregon border. Now imagine that 90 percent of those forests disappear within two years. Laura Rogers-Bennett, senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says that’s exactly what happened to underwater kelp forests off Northern California’s coastline from 2014-16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51114-y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">analysis published this week\u003c/a> in \u003cem>Scientific Reports\u003c/em> documents the rapid decline of California’s bull kelp. The study links the reduction in the seaweed’s population to a confluence of environmental and ecological stressors, including a marine heat wave, a sea star die-off and the emergence of an “urchin barrens,” large swaths of subtidal zones overtaken by kelp-hungry purple sea urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1949763\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1949763\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2019/10/Katie-Sowul-CDFW-Urchin-Barren-surrounds-Red-Abalone-800x462.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"462\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins have overtaken California waters, grazing down forests of bull kelp. \u003ccite>(Katie Sowul/California Department of Fish and Wildlife)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett, who monitors kelp forests in partnership with the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, says taken together, these strains on the kelp population threaten the greater coastal ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are finding out,” she says, “that if we cross some of these thresholds, that the system will collapse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Observers are now noting kelp deforestation off the Oregon coast and in California south of San Francisco to Monterey Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ripple Effects \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper, published Monday, points to \u003ca href=\"https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/unprecedented-number-of-warm-water-species-moved-northward-during-marine-heatwave/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">intense ocean warming\u003c/a> recorded in Northern California waters from 2014-17 as a major cause for the decline of the kelp forest. Kelp relies on nitrogen to thrive, but that element decreases as the ocean heats up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett says as temperatures cooled back down, bull kelp, a resilient species, would normally have recovered. But warmer ocean temperatures created other conditions that accelerated the decline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, an outbreak of \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2019/01/30/690003678/massive-starfish-die-off-is-tied-to-global-warming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sea star wasting disease\u003c/a> linked to the warm ocean “blob” led to the mass die-off of 20 starfish species along the West Coast. In California, the disease decimated sea stars from San Mateo to Mendocino counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A primary food source for sea stars is urchins, which in turn feed on kelp. Without starfish to keep urchin populations in check, the number of purple sea urchins swelled beginning in 2014. The following year, says the analysis in \u003cem>Scientific Reports\u003c/em>, “purple sea urchins shifted to a more aggressive feeding behavior,” devouring more layers of the kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Other Species Affected\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deforestation of Northern California’s kelp affects other species that rely on it for sustenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, in 2017, abalone stocks in the region were down by 80 percent. That led the recreational red abalone fishery to shut down in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you envision the land … without the forest, there’d be many animals that would be starving, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Rogers-Bennett says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are picking up and detecting what’s happening with the abalone, but they’re just an indicator species of that whole suite of organisms that depend on the kelp forest, that are all starving or have no homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Restoring the Forest\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way to help restore the kelp forest, Rogers-Bennett says, is to harvest urchins for human consumption. Uni, or sea urchin gonads, is a premium menu item at many sushi restaurants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett says that while the scarcity of kelp harms the health and harvestability of wild urchins, relocating them to designated urchin farms, where they could be fed algae and other nutrients, could be a solution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This goes beyond sustainable farming, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re actually having a restorative seafood product because the more you eat of urchin, the better it is for the kelp forest,” she said. “So you’re restoring the kelp forest by eliminating that grazing pressure from those urchin that are just eating everything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rogers-Bennett and colleagues are in the process of \u003ca href=\"https://farallones.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Bull-Kelp-Recovery-Plan-2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">identifying pockets of coastal waters\u003c/a> off Sonoma and Mendocino counties where harvesters could remove urchins to bolster the recovery of California’s kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1949757/massive-california-kelp-decline-linked-to-ocean-heat-wave-voracious-sea-urchins","authors":["11368"],"categories":["science_2874","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_2873"],"tags":["science_3265","science_324","science_3266"],"featImg":"science_1949762","label":"source_science_1949757"},"science_1927312":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1927312","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1927312","score":null,"sort":[1532028912000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"a-sea-urchin-army-is-mowing-down-californias-kelp-forests-but-why","title":"A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California's Kelp Forests -- But Why?","publishDate":1532028912,"format":"standard","headTitle":"A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California’s Kelp Forests — But Why? | KQED","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Kelp forests are the marine mirror images to the towering redwoods onshore, the scaffolding that supports the image of the classic northern California coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these oceanic forests are currently under siege from a potent mix of climate anomalies, disease, and predation that have led to declines in kelp forests not seen in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their place, vast “urchin barrens” of bare rock picked clean by roving grazers. These sunken equivalents of forest clear-cuts gut the complex relationships that sustain a healthy ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rise of the Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weakened by rising ocean temperatures and aggressive storms, kelp forests were already disadvantaged when researchers began to notice urchin populations increasing in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927686\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1927686 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins are experiencing populations surges, leading to overgrazing of giant kelp. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen urchins come through and mow down kelp,” says Tristin McHugh, north coast regional manager for Reef Check, a group of citizen science divers who conduct long-term monitoring studies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, for example, there was virtually minimal kelp,” she says. “The barrens were barren — just urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=”WEKh98dtZPvhgISltBlFjiZHxmaGztiL”]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh attributes this increase to elevated recruitment during years in which sea urchin larvae settled out of the plankton in high densities and survived the tumultuous early years of adolescence. Urchins have become so numerous that they have since spawned several citizen science projects aimed at curtailing their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some Heroes Wear Furry Capes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, California’s iconic sea otter has stepped in to keep urchin populations in check. Otters feed on sea urchins, which in turn keeps them from overgrazing on kelp. Without otters, the implication is that we would cease to have kelp forests at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens when otters forget just what is on the menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same way that you can eat many things but might prefer to eat pizza, otters are known to be generalists in their diets. But individuals have specific preferences which are passed from mother to pup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927356\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-160x51.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-768x247.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1020x328.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1200x386.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1920x617.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1180x379.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-960x309.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-240x77.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-375x121.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-520x167.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A raft of otters rests in Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing, CA \u003ccite>(Heather Barrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>James Watanabe is a lecturer at Hopkins Marine Station, and he was the first to suggest that otters may have developed a “cultural memory loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the big pulse of recruitment in the ’70’s, up until now, when the urchins started showing up again, there were three generations of otters with some sea urchins present,” he says, “but not enough for any otter to focus on as the main part of the diet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job. They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.’\u003ccite>Joe Tomoleoni, USGS\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that the behavior died out if everyone who remembered how to do it has died.” adds Aimee Dunlap, who studies animal cognition at the University of Missouri. “When they reintroduced the California Condor,” she recalls, “they had to haul out carcasses, because they’d had a gap in the parents teaching the young how to be a Condor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Historical Precedent?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe points to the example of \u003cem>Kelletia\u003c/em>, a large predatory snail that moved north into kelp forests during the 1977-1978 El Niño, as a historical example of a time when otters exhibited similar behaviors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big, meaty snail, and it has a big shell, and it got to the point where you could put your hand down anywhere in the kelp beds and one would be within a meter of your hand. But the otters weren’t going for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 580px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg 580w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kellet’s Whelk in a Monterey kelp forest. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he began to notice changes beneath the waves. “Within a period of about six months, the abundance dropped and there were a bunch of busted shells all over the place. It’s the damage that only an otter could typically do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Really Blame the Otters?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Joe Tomoleoni, an otter biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, bristles at the idea of blaming the urchin boom solely on otters, arguing that it ignores the inherent complexity of kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[emailsignup newslettername='science' align='right'] “It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job,” he says. “They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomoleoni stresses that urchins have always been a major prey item for sea otters in California, and in fact, recent observations show more urchins being consumed now than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Perfect Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their importance, otter indifference would not be enough to explain what’s happening here. Michael Jacox, a Research Oceanographer with NOAA, points to a series of weather anomalies that have affected the Bay Area over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927620\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927620\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg 226w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp-160x275.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mature kelp plant in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It started with a persistent high pressure system which formed over the Pacific Ocean in late 2013. While winters in California are generally characterized as wet and mild, Jacox recalls how “the ridge deflected storms, and we weren’t getting storms or mixing and there was a heat buildup in the surface of the ocean.” This heat buildup, coupled with the extremely strong El Niño of 2015, ultimately impacted the entire US west coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it had serious implications for marine ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp in particular was hit especially hard by these warm conditions. “The story for kelp might be similar to how it is for phytoplankton,” Jacox suggests, “They need nutrients in the water, and they prefer cooler conditions. In phytoplankton, we saw really low productivity as a direct result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe suspects it may also have helped drive the urchin boom. To him, the warm water weakened kelp, but failed to kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kelp wasn’t very happy here during the warm water buildup,” he recalls, “but we didn’t see wholesale loss of the canopy like we’re seeing now with overgrazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A New Hope\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many researchers spoke to the unprecedented magnitude and persistence of these climate events, they were equally quick to point to signs that the kelp beds may already be recovering. Or at the very least, that they are optimistic the damage can be reversed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his theory, Watanabe always stressed that it was only a matter of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those otters are so smart,” he says with a smile. “Once they figure out they can eat those urchins, I’m sure the otters will knock them back real quick and the kelp will recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, up on the north coast, we’ve seen cold water showing up,” adds McHugh. “We’ve seen high trade winds and we’ve seen upwelling…maybe our ecosystem is going to have a chance to recover.”\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Kelp is a keystone in the ocean ecosystem. It's not entirely clear why the urchins have taken over, but there's optimism that the kelp devastation is temporary.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704927679,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":38,"wordCount":1215},"headData":{"title":"A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California's Kelp Forests -- But Why? | KQED","description":"Kelp is a keystone in the ocean ecosystem. It's not entirely clear why the urchins have taken over, but there's optimism that the kelp devastation is temporary.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"A Sea Urchin Army Is Mowing Down California's Kelp Forests -- But Why?","datePublished":"2018-07-19T19:35:12.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T23:01:19.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"source":"Oceans","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1927312/a-sea-urchin-army-is-mowing-down-californias-kelp-forests-but-why","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kelp forests are the marine mirror images to the towering redwoods onshore, the scaffolding that supports the image of the classic northern California coastline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But these oceanic forests are currently under siege from a potent mix of climate anomalies, disease, and predation that have led to declines in kelp forests not seen in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their place, vast “urchin barrens” of bare rock picked clean by roving grazers. These sunken equivalents of forest clear-cuts gut the complex relationships that sustain a healthy ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Rise of the Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weakened by rising ocean temperatures and aggressive storms, kelp forests were already disadvantaged when researchers began to notice urchin populations increasing in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927686\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1927686 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/urchins-and-kelp-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple sea urchins are experiencing populations surges, leading to overgrazing of giant kelp. \u003ccite>(KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen urchins come through and mow down kelp,” says Tristin McHugh, north coast regional manager for Reef Check, a group of citizen science divers who conduct long-term monitoring studies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, for example, there was virtually minimal kelp,” she says. “The barrens were barren — just urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McHugh attributes this increase to elevated recruitment during years in which sea urchin larvae settled out of the plankton in high densities and survived the tumultuous early years of adolescence. Urchins have become so numerous that they have since spawned several citizen science projects aimed at curtailing their numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Some Heroes Wear Furry Capes\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Traditionally, California’s iconic sea otter has stepped in to keep urchin populations in check. Otters feed on sea urchins, which in turn keeps them from overgrazing on kelp. Without otters, the implication is that we would cease to have kelp forests at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens when otters forget just what is on the menu?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the same way that you can eat many things but might prefer to eat pizza, otters are known to be generalists in their diets. But individuals have specific preferences which are passed from mother to pup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927356\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1927356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-800x257.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-160x51.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-768x247.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1020x328.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1200x386.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1920x617.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-1180x379.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-960x309.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-240x77.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-375x121.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/Otter_Group-520x167.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A raft of otters rests in Elkhorn Slough, Moss Landing, CA \u003ccite>(Heather Barrett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>James Watanabe is a lecturer at Hopkins Marine Station, and he was the first to suggest that otters may have developed a “cultural memory loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the big pulse of recruitment in the ’70’s, up until now, when the urchins started showing up again, there were three generations of otters with some sea urchins present,” he says, “but not enough for any otter to focus on as the main part of the diet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job. They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.’\u003ccite>Joe Tomoleoni, USGS\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s possible that the behavior died out if everyone who remembered how to do it has died.” adds Aimee Dunlap, who studies animal cognition at the University of Missouri. “When they reintroduced the California Condor,” she recalls, “they had to haul out carcasses, because they’d had a gap in the parents teaching the young how to be a Condor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Historical Precedent?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe points to the example of \u003cem>Kelletia\u003c/em>, a large predatory snail that moved north into kelp forests during the 1977-1978 El Niño, as a historical example of a time when otters exhibited similar behaviors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a big, meaty snail, and it has a big shell, and it got to the point where you could put your hand down anywhere in the kelp beds and one would be within a meter of your hand. But the otters weren’t going for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927360\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 580px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927360\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"580\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580.jpg 580w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelletia_kel580-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kellet’s Whelk in a Monterey kelp forest. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Eventually, he began to notice changes beneath the waves. “Within a period of about six months, the abundance dropped and there were a bunch of busted shells all over the place. It’s the damage that only an otter could typically do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Can We Really Blame the Otters?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Joe Tomoleoni, an otter biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, bristles at the idea of blaming the urchin boom solely on otters, arguing that it ignores the inherent complexity of kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"emailsignup","attributes":{"named":{"newslettername":"science","align":"right","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “It’s not that the sea otters aren’t doing their job,” he says. “They’re doing it very well, there’s just much more to the story than otters and urchins.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomoleoni stresses that urchins have always been a major prey item for sea otters in California, and in fact, recent observations show more urchins being consumed now than in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Perfect Storm\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite their importance, otter indifference would not be enough to explain what’s happening here. Michael Jacox, a Research Oceanographer with NOAA, points to a series of weather anomalies that have affected the Bay Area over the last five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_1927620\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 226px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1927620\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/science/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"389\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp.jpg 226w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2018/07/kelp-160x275.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mature kelp plant in Monterey Bay. \u003ccite>(James Watanabe)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It started with a persistent high pressure system which formed over the Pacific Ocean in late 2013. While winters in California are generally characterized as wet and mild, Jacox recalls how “the ridge deflected storms, and we weren’t getting storms or mixing and there was a heat buildup in the surface of the ocean.” This heat buildup, coupled with the extremely strong El Niño of 2015, ultimately impacted the entire US west coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it had serious implications for marine ecosystems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp in particular was hit especially hard by these warm conditions. “The story for kelp might be similar to how it is for phytoplankton,” Jacox suggests, “They need nutrients in the water, and they prefer cooler conditions. In phytoplankton, we saw really low productivity as a direct result.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Watanabe suspects it may also have helped drive the urchin boom. To him, the warm water weakened kelp, but failed to kill it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The kelp wasn’t very happy here during the warm water buildup,” he recalls, “but we didn’t see wholesale loss of the canopy like we’re seeing now with overgrazing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A New Hope\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While many researchers spoke to the unprecedented magnitude and persistence of these climate events, they were equally quick to point to signs that the kelp beds may already be recovering. Or at the very least, that they are optimistic the damage can be reversed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his theory, Watanabe always stressed that it was only a matter of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those otters are so smart,” he says with a smile. “Once they figure out they can eat those urchins, I’m sure the otters will knock them back real quick and the kelp will recover.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This year, up on the north coast, we’ve seen cold water showing up,” adds McHugh. “We’ve seen high trade winds and we’ve seen upwelling…maybe our ecosystem is going to have a chance to recover.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1927312/a-sea-urchin-army-is-mowing-down-californias-kelp-forests-but-why","authors":["11520"],"categories":["science_2874","science_30","science_31","science_35","science_40","science_2873","science_98"],"tags":["science_856","science_2455","science_371","science_3370","science_3265","science_843"],"featImg":"science_1927344","label":"source_science_1927312"},"science_1357320":{"type":"posts","id":"science_1357320","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"science","id":"1357320","score":null,"sort":[1485788405000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"scientists-and-fishermen-scramble-to-save-northern-californias-kelp-forests","title":"Scientists and Fishermen Scramble to Save Northern California's Kelp Forests","publishDate":1485788405,"format":"audio","headTitle":"Scientists and Fishermen Scramble to Save Northern California’s Kelp Forests | KQED","labelTerm":{"site":"science"},"content":"\u003cp>On the coast of Northern California, two years of unusually warm water temperatures have wreaked havoc with the marine ecosystem. Kelp forests stretching from the Bay Area to the Oregon border have shrunk by more than 90 percent since 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cynthia Catton, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says the size of a kelp forest varies from year to year, but the recent low levels are unprecedented. “We’re in a new phase,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp beds play a key role in marine ecology. The fast-growing seaweed forms a habitat for juvenile fish, which hide in its stalks. It’s also a food source for many undersea animals, including abalone and urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catton says the kelp forests north of the Bay Area were hit by a “perfect storm of large-scale ecosystem stressors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘The kelp forest has just gotten it from all sides.’\u003ccite>Marine biologist Cynthia Catton\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>It all began in 2013, when a wasting disease nearly wiped out sea star populations along the entire Pacific coast of North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sea stars were sea urchins’ main predator. With sea stars in decline, urchins went on a kelp-eating rampage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a friend who calls them the goats of the sea,” says Catton. “They form these feeding fronts and they just munch through everywhere they’re walking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next problem: Kelp need cold water. In 2014, oceanographers noticed an unusual warming in the Northern Pacific–even more than could be explained by climate science. For lack of a better term, they called it the “Pacific warm blob.” Then, last year’s El Niño made the water even warmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last three years, income for urchin divers in Mendocino County has plummeted by 90 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202032\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20950_IMG_1862-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202032\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20950_IMG_1862-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Marine biologist Cynthia Catton meets divers Carson Bell and Jon Holcomb on a seafood processing dock in Fort Bragg.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine biologist Cynthia Catton meets divers Carson Bell and Jon Holcomb on a seafood processing dock in Fort Bragg.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The crisis has led to an alliance between fishermen and regulators. Both groups are concerned about the rapid decline of the kelp forest. Catton says that when they first met last spring, they “didn’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about what’s happening.” Instead, they thought about “what we can do together to solve it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, they’re experimenting with new methods of restoring the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Getting Rid of Purple Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Holcomb is an old-time urchin diver with the leathery skin of a man who spends a lot of time on his boat. For 42 years, Holcomb has made his living diving for red urchins. Their buttery insides are a delicacy in Japanese restaurants where they show up on menus as uni.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent morning, he motored out to a cove by the town of Mendocino. It’s a test site, where Holcomb and a few other divers volunteered to help biologist Catton with a restoration effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb says when he first started fishing here in the mid-’80s, this area was “a complete mat” of kelp “you couldn’t swim through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, just a few dark green kelp heads bob in the water. “It’s like a lake,” says Holcomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kelp here has been devoured by purple urchins. Compared to red urchins — the species that Holcomb harvests — they’re smaller, less meaty and not worth fishing for. And they’re voracious eaters of kelp. “Nothing can survive their appetite,” says Holcomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, many parts of the California coast north of the Bay Area have turned into what scientists call an “urchin barren.” There’s not much life besides a mass of spiny purple creatures carpeting the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paradoxically, these urchins keep reproducing even while they have little to eat. Holcomb calls them “starving animals that don’t die from starvation. They just keep breeding, and there’s more and more of them every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of a pilot project with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Holcomb has been diving underwater to remove masses of purple urchins. He’s hoping that their effort to remove urchin in a few test sites will allow kelp to grow back in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge is collecting thousands of urchins at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202000\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/RS20910_IMG_1586-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202000\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/RS20910_IMG_1586-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Jon Holcomb, a veteran diver with his urchin airlift.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jon Holcomb, a veteran diver with his urchin airlift.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Homemade Underwater Vacuum Cleaner\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb assembles the device he’s developed for just this purpose. He slaps together 10-foot-long pieces of fiberglass tubing to make a sort of homemade underwater vacuum cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a modified version of a tool called an airlift, which is used to clear sand and silt from the seafloor. This one is built for purple urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaXExXw4R0A\">videos\u003c/a> he’s made of his method, the seafloor looks like a minefield of spiky purple creatures. Holcomb puts on his scuba gear and connects the pipes to an air compressor on deck. Then he dives down with the equipment to depths of about 30 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He uses a little metal rake to scrape the urchins off the rocks and into his fiberglass tube. The device sucks the urchins up and deposits them into a large net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It takes him almost two hours to clear off an area smaller than a tennis court.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘It’s much like trying to scratch the paint off a house with a pin. It’s not gonna be easy.’\u003ccite>Jon Holcomb, urchin diver\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>When he finally comes up, his net is packed with thousands of purple urchins with wiggly spines. They’re much lighter than the same number of urchins would be in a healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb smashes one open to show that there’s almost no flesh inside. “They’re all empty,” he says. “There’s no food value in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202020\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20924_IMG_1735-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202020\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20924_IMG_1735-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Holcomb shows the insides of an empty purple urchin, surviving without much kelp to eat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Holcomb shows the insides of an empty purple urchin, surviving without much kelp to eat.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We head back to a dock in Fort Bragg, where Catton has brought a group of local volunteers to count and measure the urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to be able to say, ‘How much effort does this take?’ ” says Catton. “How effective is this on a small scale? How can we expand this effectively? And if not, what do we need to do differently?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few months, her team will return to the test sites to find out if the divers’ efforts have enabled kelp to grow back. But even if their experiment succeeds, the problem of restoring the entire coastline is vast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s much like trying to scratch the paint off a house with a pin,” says Holcomb. “It’s not gonna be easy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently though, a few changes in the ocean may point toward a recovery for the kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/clim/sst.shtml\">The warm blob in the Pacific has abated\u003c/a>. The coastal storms of the last few months have cooled off the ocean, and water temperatures are closer to normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, many \u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160524-starfish-baby-boom-surprises-biologists/\">sea star populations along the coast appear to be recovering\u003c/a>. If the baby sea stars survive to adulthood without dying of the wasting disease, they could help bring balance back to the ecosystem by eating the urchins that have been destroying kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"California fishermen and marine biologists are working to revive the coast's disappearing kelp forest.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1704929132,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":38,"wordCount":1272},"headData":{"title":"Scientists and Fishermen Scramble to Save Northern California's Kelp Forests | KQED","description":"California fishermen and marine biologists are working to revive the coast's disappearing kelp forest.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":"","schema":{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Scientists and Fishermen Scramble to Save Northern California's Kelp Forests","datePublished":"2017-01-30T15:00:05.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-10T23:25:32.000Z","image":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"}},"audioUrl":"http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/science/2017/01/.mp3","sticky":false,"path":"/science/1357320/scientists-and-fishermen-scramble-to-save-northern-californias-kelp-forests","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On the coast of Northern California, two years of unusually warm water temperatures have wreaked havoc with the marine ecosystem. Kelp forests stretching from the Bay Area to the Oregon border have shrunk by more than 90 percent since 2008.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cynthia Catton, a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, says the size of a kelp forest varies from year to year, but the recent low levels are unprecedented. “We’re in a new phase,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kelp beds play a key role in marine ecology. The fast-growing seaweed forms a habitat for juvenile fish, which hide in its stalks. It’s also a food source for many undersea animals, including abalone and urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catton says the kelp forests north of the Bay Area were hit by a “perfect storm of large-scale ecosystem stressors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘The kelp forest has just gotten it from all sides.’\u003ccite>Marine biologist Cynthia Catton\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>It all began in 2013, when a wasting disease nearly wiped out sea star populations along the entire Pacific coast of North America.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sea stars were sea urchins’ main predator. With sea stars in decline, urchins went on a kelp-eating rampage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a friend who calls them the goats of the sea,” says Catton. “They form these feeding fronts and they just munch through everywhere they’re walking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next problem: Kelp need cold water. In 2014, oceanographers noticed an unusual warming in the Northern Pacific–even more than could be explained by climate science. For lack of a better term, they called it the “Pacific warm blob.” Then, last year’s El Niño made the water even warmer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last three years, income for urchin divers in Mendocino County has plummeted by 90 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202032\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20950_IMG_1862-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202032\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20950_IMG_1862-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Marine biologist Cynthia Catton meets divers Carson Bell and Jon Holcomb on a seafood processing dock in Fort Bragg.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marine biologist Cynthia Catton meets divers Carson Bell and Jon Holcomb on a seafood processing dock in Fort Bragg.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The crisis has led to an alliance between fishermen and regulators. Both groups are concerned about the rapid decline of the kelp forest. Catton says that when they first met last spring, they “didn’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about what’s happening.” Instead, they thought about “what we can do together to solve it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, they’re experimenting with new methods of restoring the ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Getting Rid of Purple Urchins\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jon Holcomb is an old-time urchin diver with the leathery skin of a man who spends a lot of time on his boat. For 42 years, Holcomb has made his living diving for red urchins. Their buttery insides are a delicacy in Japanese restaurants where they show up on menus as uni.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a recent morning, he motored out to a cove by the town of Mendocino. It’s a test site, where Holcomb and a few other divers volunteered to help biologist Catton with a restoration effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb says when he first started fishing here in the mid-’80s, this area was “a complete mat” of kelp “you couldn’t swim through.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, just a few dark green kelp heads bob in the water. “It’s like a lake,” says Holcomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The kelp here has been devoured by purple urchins. Compared to red urchins — the species that Holcomb harvests — they’re smaller, less meaty and not worth fishing for. And they’re voracious eaters of kelp. “Nothing can survive their appetite,” says Holcomb.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, many parts of the California coast north of the Bay Area have turned into what scientists call an “urchin barren.” There’s not much life besides a mass of spiny purple creatures carpeting the seafloor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paradoxically, these urchins keep reproducing even while they have little to eat. Holcomb calls them “starving animals that don’t die from starvation. They just keep breeding, and there’s more and more of them every year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of a pilot project with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Holcomb has been diving underwater to remove masses of purple urchins. He’s hoping that their effort to remove urchin in a few test sites will allow kelp to grow back in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The challenge is collecting thousands of urchins at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202000\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/RS20910_IMG_1586-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202000\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/RS20910_IMG_1586-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Jon Holcomb, a veteran diver with his urchin airlift.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jon Holcomb, a veteran diver with his urchin airlift.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A Homemade Underwater Vacuum Cleaner\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb assembles the device he’s developed for just this purpose. He slaps together 10-foot-long pieces of fiberglass tubing to make a sort of homemade underwater vacuum cleaner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a modified version of a tool called an airlift, which is used to clear sand and silt from the seafloor. This one is built for purple urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaXExXw4R0A\">videos\u003c/a> he’s made of his method, the seafloor looks like a minefield of spiky purple creatures. Holcomb puts on his scuba gear and connects the pipes to an air compressor on deck. Then he dives down with the equipment to depths of about 30 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He uses a little metal rake to scrape the urchins off the rocks and into his fiberglass tube. The device sucks the urchins up and deposits them into a large net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It takes him almost two hours to clear off an area smaller than a tennis court.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">‘It’s much like trying to scratch the paint off a house with a pin. It’s not gonna be easy.’\u003ccite>Jon Holcomb, urchin diver\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>When he finally comes up, his net is packed with thousands of purple urchins with wiggly spines. They’re much lighter than the same number of urchins would be in a healthy kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Holcomb smashes one open to show that there’s almost no flesh inside. “They’re all empty,” he says. “There’s no food value in them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11202020\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20924_IMG_1735-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11202020\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/12/RS20924_IMG_1735-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Holcomb shows the insides of an empty purple urchin, surviving without much kelp to eat.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Holcomb shows the insides of an empty purple urchin, surviving without much kelp to eat.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>We head back to a dock in Fort Bragg, where Catton has brought a group of local volunteers to count and measure the urchins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to be able to say, ‘How much effort does this take?’ ” says Catton. “How effective is this on a small scale? How can we expand this effectively? And if not, what do we need to do differently?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a few months, her team will return to the test sites to find out if the divers’ efforts have enabled kelp to grow back. But even if their experiment succeeds, the problem of restoring the entire coastline is vast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s much like trying to scratch the paint off a house with a pin,” says Holcomb. “It’s not gonna be easy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently though, a few changes in the ocean may point toward a recovery for the kelp forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/clim/sst.shtml\">The warm blob in the Pacific has abated\u003c/a>. The coastal storms of the last few months have cooled off the ocean, and water temperatures are closer to normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, many \u003ca href=\"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160524-starfish-baby-boom-surprises-biologists/\">sea star populations along the coast appear to be recovering\u003c/a>. If the baby sea stars survive to adulthood without dying of the wasting disease, they could help bring balance back to the ecosystem by eating the urchins that have been destroying kelp forests.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/science/1357320/scientists-and-fishermen-scramble-to-save-northern-californias-kelp-forests","authors":["11259"],"categories":["science_31","science_35","science_40","science_2873"],"tags":["science_3265","science_3266"],"featImg":"science_1357325","label":"science"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.","airtime":"SUN 2pm","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://www.possible.fm/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"Possible"},"link":"/radio/program/possible","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"}},"1a":{"id":"1a","title":"1A","info":"1A is home to the national conversation. 1A brings on great guests and frames the best debate in ways that make you think, share and engage.","airtime":"MON-THU 11pm-12am","imageSrc":"https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/1a.jpg","officialWebsiteLink":"https://the1a.org/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"npr"},"link":"/radio/program/1a","subscribe":{"npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW","apple":"https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=1188724250&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/1A-p947376/","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510316/podcast.xml"}},"all-things-considered":{"id":"all-things-considered","title":"All Things Considered","info":"Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. 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You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. 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You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"On Our Watch from NPR and KQED","officialWebsiteLink":"/podcasts/onourwatch","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"1"},"link":"/podcasts/onourwatch","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw","npr":"https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x","tuneIn":"https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch","rss":"https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"}},"on-the-media":{"id":"on-the-media","title":"On The Media","info":"Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. 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