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The Kelp Forest Sections and Animals That Live There

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The Kelp Forest Sections and Animals That Live There

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The kelp forest has three sections. The holdfast (the bottom), the stipe (the middle), and the canopy (the top). Animals that feast on kelp, like snails and crabs, stay in the canopy whereas their predators, typically larger fish, stay in the stipe and holdfast. Sharks and marine mammals often hunt for prey in the kelp forest. In the holdfast, many sponges and anemones are found. The rate of growth speeds up or slows down depending on the season. During spring and summer the growth speeds up with all the extra sunlight the forest gets. Once it's about to be fall, the growth slows down due to light being cut out. This happens due to the canopy thickening and less light reaches the bottom.

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The purpose of the Fish Cam group is to help assess the diversity of fish in the Crystal Cove Marine Conservation Area (specifically in the canopy and surface) by collecting data on local fish populations. The students first lower a GoPro camera underwater using a fishing pole and record for about ten to fifteen minutes. This video is then put on a USB and viewed by the team. The team will then write down what fish they saw using a guide. Once they have watched the whole video, the team discusses what patterns they saw (an abundance of one kind of fish, a lack of another kind of fish, health of the coral reef, etc.).

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What were each groups' jobs during the cruise?

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What were each groups' jobs during the cruise?

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An MPA is a marine protected area. Marine protected areas are areas of protected seas, oceans, estuaries or large lakes. MPA's are established to protect natural or cultural resources, as well as protecting populations such as fish and tracking the (mother) fishes ages. This is done by restricting human activity or applying a certain set of rules.

Everyone who went on the cruise was split up into three groups: Fish Cam, Water Quality, and Plankton. The trip to Each group used different tools to gather the information that will be used by scientists.

Fish cam lowers a camera down into the water and takes video of the sea creatures that live within the kelp forest. This video is then looked over for certain fish species.

The students in the water quality group collect water samples at different depths. Every time they take a sample they check the water's salinity, temperature, and pH levels.

The plankton groups use a special net and put it in the water to gather plankton. Then they use that plankton to see if there has been an increase of them compared to past years.

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Marine Mammals that were Found on the Cruise

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Marine Mammals that were Found on the Cruise

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There were plenty of different mammals that live in the ocean. During the MPA Citizen Cruise we only saw a couple of mammals. The mammals we saw were sea lions and gray whales. The gray whales were migrating meanwhile the sea lions were just hanging out in groups. Some of these mammals that we found were traveling with their babies. Even though the whales didn't completely come out we still saw their paths and their backs. The sea lions would sometimes pop their heads out of the water as well as during the fish cam we saw some of them swimming.

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Marine Protected Area Citizen Scientist Cruise - Fish Monitoring Investigation

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Marine Protected Area Citizen Scientist Cruise - Fish Monitoring Investigation

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Author: Crystal Cove Conservancy Field Studies

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Author: Project Oceanography

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Marine Science and Ecosystems - Kelp Forest

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Marine Science and Ecosystems - Kelp Forest

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Author: OCEANA - Protecting the World´s Oceans

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Kelp thrives in cold, nutrient-rich waters. Because kelp attaches to the seafloor and eventually grows to the water's surface and relies on sunlight to generate food and energy, kelp forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water. Generally speaking, kelps live further from the tropics than coral reefs, mangrove forests, and warm-water seagrass beds, so kelp forests do not overlap with those systems. Like those systems, though, kelp forests provide important three-dimensional, underwater habitat that is home to hundreds or thousands of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae. Some species aggregate and spawn in kelp forests or utilize these areas as juvenile nursery habitat. Large predatory species of sharks and marine mammals are known to hunt in the long corridors that form in kelp forests between rows of individual plants.

Though kelp forests are important ecosystems wherever they occur, they are more dynamic than the other systems mentioned above. In other words, they can disappear and reappear based on the oceanographic conditions and the population sizes of their primary herbivores. Warmer than normal summers and seasonal changes to currents that bring fewer nutrients to kelp forests (both sometimes occurring naturally) combine to weaken kelps and threaten their survival in some years. Strong individual storms can wipe out large areas of kelp forest, by ripping the kelp plants from the seafloor. Large gatherings of sea urchins (a primary herbivore in kelp forests) can prevent kelp plants from growing large enough to form forests. The cycle between these so called "urchin barrens" and well-developed kelp forests is a well-studied phenomenon in regions that are favorable for forest formation. Each of these natural alterations to kelp forest density or total area affects the community of invertebrates and fishes that live in this ecosystem. Population sizes of many of these species (including some that are commercially important food species) depend on the success of kelp growth each year.

Destructive fishing practices, coastal pollution, and accidental damage caused by boat entanglement are known to negatively affect kelp forests. Area based management (e.g., designation of marine protected areas) is known to be an effective way to protect kelp forests from excessive use or harm by people.

1. Kelp are not plants, but rather extremely large brown algae, and many different species of kelp make up kelp forests.

2. Some kelp species can measure up to 150 feet (45 m) long. If living in ideal physical conditions, kelp can grow 18 inches (45 cm) a day.

3. Kelp forests comprise one the ocean's most diverse ecosystems. Many fish species use kelp forests as nurseries for their young, while seabirds and marine mammals like sea lions, sea otters and even gray whales use them as shelter from predators and storms. ¹

4. Sea urchins can destroy entire kelp forests at a rate of 30 feet (9 m) per month by moving in herds. Sea otters play a key role in stabilizing sea urchin populations so that kelp forests may thrive. ²

5. Giant kelp is harvested from kelp forests and used as a binding agent in products like ice cream, cereal, ranch dressing, yogurt, toothpaste, lotion and more. 3 4

Oceana joined forces with Sailors for the Sea, an ocean conservation organization dedicated to educating and engaging the world's boating community. Sailors for the Sea developed the KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) program to create the next generation of ocean stewards. Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids.

References:
² NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries

³ University of California, Santa Barbara

⁴ Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Kelp thrives in cold, nutrient-rich waters. Because kelp attaches to the seafloor and eventually grows to the water's surface and relies on sunlight to generate food and energy, kelp forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water.

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Marine Protected Area Citizen Science Cruise - Water Quality Monitoring Investigation

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Marine Protected Area Citizen Science Cruise - Water Quality Monitoring Investigation

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Author: Crystal Cove Conservancy Field Studies

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From: Monterey Bay Aquarium
Author: Judith Connor and Charles Baxter