Scientists deploy a 24-armed secret weapon to save California’s kelp forests
Researchers are reintroducing the sunflower sea star to California's Pacific coast to help restore decimated kelp forests. These predators are being deployed to manage the ecosystem, as kelp forests have suffered a 95% decline over the last decade.
Why it matters
Kelp forests are vital carbon sinks and habitats; their restoration is critical for marine biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
A sunflower sea star, a critically endangered marine invertebrate. Photograph: Climate Central A sunflower sea star, a critically endangered marine invertebrate. Photograph: Climate Central Climate crisis Scientists deploy a 24-armed secret weapon to save California’s kelp forests Team works to restore the sunflower sea star as 95% of these key underwater ecosystems have been decimated along the Pacific coast in past decade
Prefer the Guardian on Google Off the coast of Monterey, California , a team of researchers is gearing up for its first dive of the day into the cold and choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.
On the back deck of the boat, Ashley Kidd, a co-founder of the non-profit Sunflower Star Laboratory , gave the divers their final command: “Dive No 1 … stars in the water.”
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