Activists, fish visit kelp forest

Visible just below the surface of the waves, giant kelp swayed in the

water as divers went below Thursday for a first-hand look at kelp

restoration efforts.

Wearing scuba gear, Janet Rappaport and Julia Elizondo dived near

Little Corona Beach to observe the results of efforts to regrow kelp

along the local coastline. When they returned to the world above, the

divers reported that marine life had found a place to stay in the new

algae forest.

“We were following the kelp down the reef and just checked out the

reefs. There were tons of sea urchins, sheepshead,” Elizondo said.

She also saw angel fish swimming around the kelp.

For environmentalists who are trying to bring kelp forests back to

Orange County, the fish were a sign of success. Nancy Caruso, a

California Coastkeeper Alliance marine biologist, has headed kelp

restoration efforts along the Orange County coast for about four

years. She said fish prefer to swim in kelp forests because they can

hide among the brownish algae. Giving fish a place to swim is one of

the key objectives of restoration efforts.

Urchins however, are part of the problem for kelp. In addition to

planting kelp spores, volunteer divers who have worked on the kelp

project in recent years have devoted a significant portion of their

efforts to moving sea urchins away from kelp forests. The spiny

creatures like to feast on kelp.

“If we can get rid of the sea urchins, that’s half the battle,”

Caruso said.

Caruso said volunteers need a permit to move urchins. The

creatures have multiplied over the years as the number of urchin

predators, such as lobsters and sheepshead, have diminished. She said

the flow of sediment into the water has also hindered kelp, since the

algae need rocky reefs -- as opposed to sandy deposits -- to grow.

In what was technically a meeting of a Newport Beach water-quality

committee, city officials and others boarded Councilman Tod

Ridgeway’s yacht Thursday afternoon to observe kelp beds. Caruso

discussed the kelp restoration project before it was time to go

swimming. In addition to the divers, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff

went for a swim to observe the kelp, as did water-quality activists

Jack and Nancy Skinner.

“What’s exciting is it’s like you’re swimming in a forest,” Jack

Skinner said.

“There’s so much fish activity in the kelp here. You see a lot of

small fish and bigger fish. It’s spectacular,” Jack Skinner said.

In late August, the Coastkeeper Alliance released a progress

report of kelp restoration efforts from San Diego to Santa Barbara

between 2001 and 2004. The report stated more than an acre of kelp

had been added to local waters in the time period covered.

The kelp beds observed Thursday were planted before the time

covered in the report, Caruso said. Federally funded kelp work along

the coast began in 2001, but the kelp off Little Corona was planted

earlier as part of a pilot program that involved the Orange County

Coastkeeper, a local water-quality group.

Caruso started working on kelp for Orange County Coastkeeper in

2001. Earlier this year, Orange County Coastkeeper parted ways with

the Coastkeeper Alliance and the kelp program.

Caruso lost her job with Orange County Coastkeeper and was hired

by the Coastkeeper Alliance to continue her restoration efforts. She

said the program is currently funded through 2007.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

o7andrew.edwards@latimes.comf7.