Restoring kelp, protecting the coast

Currents is a series of stories highlighting Arc partners working to protect the water.

On a recent foggy Catalina morning, USC student researchers Bernadeth Tolentino and Declan Bulwa dove into the thick kelp forests off the island’s coast. For five straight days, they got up before sunrise, boarded boats, donned oxygen tanks, and spent hours underwater, where amber-green seaweed stretches dozens of feet below the surface and colorful fish mingle with invertebrates. But they weren’t diving to admire the beauty. They swam down with measurement tools, waterproof paper, and collection bags to take field notes and collect plant samples from a vanishing ecosystem they’re trying to protect.

Tolentino and Bulwa conduct these dives for Kelp Ark, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring algae’s genetic diversity across the Eastern Pacific. Based down the berth from Arc at the Port of Los Angeles, the organization is building an archive of gametophytes, algae’s equivalent of seeds. It’s the world’s first seaweed seed bank. “Kelp’s really, really important,” Kelp Ark’s Hayden Schneider said. “It’s foundational and we’re losing it.” Kelp forests produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and protect coasts from erosion. But as sea temperatures have risen in response to greenhouse gas emissions, these forests have shrunk dramatically.

“Kelp creates the ecosystem,” Bulwa explained. “If you imagine there were no coniferous trees, deciduous forests would simply not exist. If kelp forests are dying, then you're losing an entire type of ecosystem, and with that you're also losing all of the fish that use it as hatcheries, all of the nutrient cycling that enables us to have healthy oceans.”

In the lab, Kelp Ark’s researchers extract DNA from wavy strands of species like bull kelp and giant kelp, isolate microbes that live on the plant’s surface, and sequence their genomes. Scientists can access the material to conduct experiments. Tolentino is exploring inoculation. “Adding beneficial bacteria can help kelp become more resistant to warmer waters or diseases,” she said. “It’s kind of like getting a vaccine.” Researchers can also use the genetic library to breed more resilient algae. There are thousands of macroalgae strains and related microbes in Kelp Ark’s catalog.

Last winter, Tolentino and Bulwa borrowed an all-electric Arc Sport for a dive off the coast of Palos Verdes. Normally, their team relies on gas barges that churn through 70 gallons of gas in a matter of hours. “What some boats spew as we're trying to make the atmosphere better, it just feels a little backwards,” Tolentino said. Arc’s Captain of Culture Miriam Morris rode along. “It was something the divers had never experienced,” she said. “There were no fumes, no noise. All you heard was the lapping of the waves.”

We’re assisting Kelp Ark’s work because progress on the water isn’t just about building better boats. It’s about protecting the places we love. Learn more above in the first episode of Currents. You can donate to Kelp Ark here.