Blue-Carbon Ecosystems · Mar 25, 2020

What’s the speed limit on the KELP highway?

Ever since the first humans to settle in North America cruised down the west coast on the kelp highway 15,000+ years ago, underwater kelp forests have been a vital resource to everyone that lives near the sea - including all the creatures that live near or under it.

Kelp Forests provide critical habitat for thousands of species of sea-life, they smooth out the waves we surf, protect coastlines from storm damage, and they sequester at least as much carbon dioxide as the forests on land.

It’s getting very hard to see the vital signs of this critical coastal ecosystem left in California. 90% of the kelp forests have been lost at record speed - within just the last 10 years.

The good news, actually the great news - it’s not too late to repair the damage. Kelp is one of the fastest-growing plants on earth, which means that we can reforest this ecosystem (with your help) at record speed too!

See what’s possible with your own eyes - come take a virtual boat ride with us to visit the Giant Kelp forest restoration project that SeaTrees supports - developed by our partners, The Bay Foundation, in the waters off Los Angeles, CA.

Why is talking about restoring and planting SeaTrees still relevant in these uncertain times?

We think that enabling individuals to take such a powerful and direct action to help save our seas plants a seed of hope for the future. Let’s re-surface from the current chaos stronger. Together.

And because the SeaTrees website makes supporting ocean conservation projects way easier and more fun than ordering toilet paper from Amazon__

How can you integrate kelp into your daily life? Here are a few of our favorite ideas from a global community of ocean-lovers.

Kelp in the Kitchen - In addition to being a super-ecosystem, kelp is also a super-food. We’re loving this cherry tomato pasta recipe from our friends at Blue Evolution. We’re also big fans of this virtual cooking club from our friends at AKUA - spice up your Sundays with Seaweed. And while you’re watching back-to-back reruns of FRIENDS (we know you are) - take your snacking to a whole new level with these seaweed snacks from our friends at 12 Tides.

Kelp with the Kids - PANGAIA makes clothes from seaweed and other ocean-positive fabrics, and plants a SeaTree for every product sold. We kept the “kids” entertained with these color-in-drawings from Raku Inoue.

Virtual yoga - OK, so we gave up on the kelp-isms, but we’re huge fans of these virtual Yoga and meditation classes hosted by Sarah Pascual. Can’t make the class - Sarah also shared this great guide - “All you need is 1 yoga mat, 1 small blanket and an eye pillow if you have one”

Learn about Seaweed’s superpowers - Want to know more about kelp? You could spend your days reading through dense peer-reviewed papers about kelp - yeah we do that - or take a couple of minutes on this great seaweed infographic. It’s also a handy resource when trying to explain kelp to kids.

Stay in shape for your next session - Most of us are out of the water right now - how are you staying in shape? We’ve been getting inspired by our ambassadors Tyler Fox and Zane Schweitzer. Oh yeah and Thor (aka surfer Chris Hemsworth) is offering six weeks of his health and fitness program for FREE!

Speaking of staying fit - We’re loving all of the ocean-positive art that staying home is inspiring. Like this new print from Alimo - every piece sold plants a SeaTree. And this little piece from Kelly Slater aka The GOAT.

More on the Native American Kelp Highway - You made it this far___ you must love kelp as much as we do. Here’s a Nat Geo story about how kelp likely enabled the first migration of humans into North America. But there’s scant evidence available because 15-20,000 years ago, the sea level was hundreds of feet lower than today.

Want something a little more tangible in your new mission to save California's kelp? Every pair of SeaChange shoes from our friends at SeaVees restores 1 square foot of kelp.

KELP spread the message

Thanks for staying with us. If you enjoyed this short Ocean-Positive reprieve from the new normal, please share Re-surface with a friend and ask them to sign-up for the next one. We promise - they won’t have to wait long.

Thanks

Michael + Kevin + Brett +++