Featured articles & new in 2022
The Fight to Save the California Kelp Forest
Making a splash: a deep-dive into central coast kelp forest restoration
The Fight to Save the California Kelp Forest
Sierra: In the warming waters of the Pacific Ocean, urchins crowd out a legacy ecosystem June. 2022
Keith Rootsaert Awarded May Sea Hero Honors
Making a splash: a deep-dive into central coast kelp forest restoration
The Fight to Save the California Kelp Forest
Scuba Diving: Tackling kelp forest degradation through research and grassroots advocacy. May 2022
Making a splash: a deep-dive into central coast kelp forest restoration
Making a splash: a deep-dive into central coast kelp forest restoration
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
KION-TV: After a round of early-morning April showers, the sky was beginning to clear at the Monterey Wharf while a group of divers boarded the Beachwaver II for a special mission. May 2022
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
Frontiers in Marine Science: "Kelp and macroalgal forests provide the ecological foundations of many temperate rocky reef ecosystems, but have regionally declined, often due to sea urchin overgrazing and the formation of urchin barrens." Feb. 2022
The Case of Catastrophic Kelp Loss
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
The Case of Catastrophic Kelp Loss
Divers Alert Network: For more than five years, divers and scientists along the U.S. West Coast have watched a disaster play out before their eyes. April 2021
Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies”
The Case of Catastrophic Kelp Loss
2020 - 2021
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
Inside Climate News: When ocean heat waves and a sea star disease devastated kelp forests that are critical to sea life and the California urchin fishing industry, sea otters came to the rescue." March, 2021
Humans wielding hammers take on long unchecked urchins, acting like predators.
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
Monterey County Weekly: "Over the last eight years, Monterey County has experienced significant deforestation of its own, and as Keith Rootsaert kills his motor and drifts above the rubble, he acknowledges the challenges of addressing a silent and mostly invisible crisis." July, 2021
Disaster off American coast: 'forests of the sea' are disappearing
In the Pacific, Global Warming Disrupted The Ecological Dance of Urchins, Sea Stars And Kelp.
Disaster off American coast: 'forests of the sea' are disappearing
rtlnieuws: In English with Dutch subtitles. A disaster is unfolding off the west coast of America. 90 percent of the seaweed is dying there. Increasingly warmer seawater is causing an enormous growth in the number of sea urchins that eat the plants. May 2021
The Case of Catastrophic Kelp Loss
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Disaster off American coast: 'forests of the sea' are disappearing
Divers Alert Network: For more than five years, divers and scientists along the U.S. West Coast have watched a disaster play out before their eyes. April 2021
Bringing Back Kelp Forests in the Monterey Peninsula
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Reef Check News: "Kelp forest restoration along the Central Coast of California is underway with rapidly developing progress!" April 2021
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Monterey Bay Area divers band together to thwart kelp destruction
Monterey Herald: "Monterey Bay Area divers are undergoing training to help battle a type of urchin that is decimating kelp forests critical to several marine wildlife species" April 2021
Sea urchins are killing Monterey Bay’s kelp forests. Help is on the way, with hammers
Sea urchins are killing Monterey Bay’s kelp forests. Help is on the way, with hammers
Sea urchins are killing Monterey Bay’s kelp forests. Help is on the way, with hammers
Monterey County NOW: "Keith Rootsaert has been diving in Monterey Bay since the 1980s. By the early 2010s, he began noticing the decimation of the bay’s giant kelp forests." March 2021
These urchin slayers are trying to save California’s underwater ‘rainforest’
Sea urchins are killing Monterey Bay’s kelp forests. Help is on the way, with hammers
Sea urchins are killing Monterey Bay’s kelp forests. Help is on the way, with hammers
Grist: ‘Zombie’ urchins have obliterated West Coast kelp forests. Can they be stopped?" Sept. 2021
2018 - 2019
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
Calif. Diving News: "Anyone who has dived California’s reefs in recent years, or has read this magazine or the mainstream news media is aware of the unprecedented changes our local reefs are experiencing." May 2019
Sea urchins invade Monterey Bay
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
KSBW/NBC News: Crews are working on a plan to clear invasive sea urchins from California’s Monterey Bay." May 2019
Divers to begin removal of invading sea urchins from Monterey Bay
Attack of the Purple Sea Urchins: What happens when nature is out of balance.
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
KSBW/NBC News: "Divers will take the next two weekends to do this. They expect to see results in about a month." June 2019
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
Forbes: Scuba divers along the California coast have been watching the kelp forests steadily disappear for years, and everyone is pointing fingers at the purple sea urchins’ voracious appetite for the algae." Dec. 2019
Sea urchin invasion in Monterey Bay
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
Local kelp forests are giving way to barrens of sea urchins. Divers want to fight back.
KSBW Action News 8: "The Monterey Bay is world renowned for its giant kelp forests. But scientists are seeing a huge increase in sea urchins and a decline in kelp." Feb 2018
Local kelp forests are giving way to barrens of sea urchins. Divers want to fight back.
Purple Sea Urchins Are Devouring California Kelp Forests, What Can Scientists Do To Stop Them?
Local kelp forests are giving way to barrens of sea urchins. Divers want to fight back.
Monterey County Weekly: "All around the Monterey Peninsula, and off of much of the California coast, the marine ecosystem has changed dramatically in the last few years: Kelp forests are being replaced by purple sea urchins." 2018