<
https://apnews.com/article/kelp-forests-urchins-restoration-blob-climate-efc686ed56303f0f418dd9c84ae8c277>
"CASPAR BEACH, Calif. (
AP) — A welding hammer strapped to her wrist, Joy
Hollenback slipped on blue fins and swam into the churning, chilly Pacific surf
one fall morning to do her part to save Northern California’s vanishing kelp
forests.
Hollenback floated on the swaying surface to regulate her breathing before free
diving into the murky depths toward the seafloor. There, she spotted her
target: voracious, kelp-devouring purple urchins.
Within seconds she smashed 20 to smithereens. “If you’re angry, it’s a
cathartic way to get it all out,” Hollenback joked. “It’s ecologically
sanctioned mayhem.”
The veterinarian who lives in Berkeley, California is part of a crew of
volunteers who swim, snorkel and dive armed with pick axes and hammers on a
sole mission: To crush purple urchins that largely destroyed 96% of
California’s iconic bull kelp forests between 2014 and 2020, and with it harmed
red abalone and other sea life they supported.
The pilot project off the Mendocino County coast is one of many initiatives
California is testing to save such leafy marine ecosystems, which are declining
worldwide due to climate change."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-obamacare-ocean-conservation-ireland-pandas/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
