1. National Marine Sanctuaries

2. What is a National Marine Sanctuary?
Nationally protected Safe Haven for wildlife and/or Archaeological/Cultural Sites
The closest one to us: Flower Garden Banks
Protection ranges depending on the Site
Ex. Thunder Bay allows fishing while the Channel Islands do not

3. Kelp Forest Notes

4. Observation of Kelp Forest
360 video

5. Key Characteristics Sandy bottom littered with rocks
Kelp grows from the bottom up creating a vertical environment
Cold Waters
Usually low visibility
Depths no more than 175 ft
Why?

6. Kelp Protist NOT a Plant Ochrophyta (Brown Algae)
Grows in per day in ideal conditions
A home organisms can eat
Grows in cold nutrient rich waters (areas of upwelling)

7. Kelp Anatomy
Pneumatocyst
(Gas Bladder to help Kelp stay afloat. Why would they need this?)
Anchoring System (NOT a Root System) Why would kelp need an Anchoring system?

8. Why is Kelp not considered a Plant?
No root uptake system
Lack of complexity compared to Plants
Even though it looks like it has defined parts, it only has one clearly defined tissue (ex. All parts photosynthesize and take in water)

9. Then you have eaten or used kelp products!
Questions to Consider
1. Did you brush your teeth today?
2. Did you drink chocolate milk this week?
3. Have you eaten ice cream this week?
4. Do you eat cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurts or puddings?
5. Do you drink soft drinks or fruit juices?
6. Do you eat caramels, marshmallows or gummi candy?
7. Have you eaten mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, French dressing or syrups?
8. Have you ever eaten seaweed?
9. Do you eat bread, cake, doughnuts, cookies or pies?
10. Do you like to chew gum?
11.Do you polish your shoes?
12. Do you use lotion on your hands?
13. Have you ever painted?
14.Have you ever used gum adhesives?
Then you have eaten or used kelp products!

10. Organisms of the Kelp Forest

11. Rock Fish

12. Gharibaldi
California State Marine Fish

13. California Spiny Lobsters
-No Claws like the Maine Lobsters
-Extremely Powerful tails with spines on them

14. Harbor Seals and Sea Lions

15. Abalone
Hemophiliac

16. Sea Urchin
Echinoderm
Mouth of an urchin,
What do they eat?

17. Sea Otters
A Raft of Otters

18. Sea Otter Fun Facts Use tools to help crack their food
Have favorite rocks that they use and will hide in an armpit pocket
Need to eat ~25% of their body weight per day
Will wrap themselves in kelp before they nap, why?
New born pups cannot dive (too buoyant)

19. History of Southern Sea Otters
Sea Otters were hunted to extinction in 1900’s.
Why?
Their dense soft fur (~1 million hairs per square inch). They do not have blubber, only their fur keeps them warm
Water never actually comes into contact with their skin. Otters need to constantly groom.

20. History of Southern Sea Otters
Sea Otters were hunted to extinction in 1900’s.
A Raft of 50 otters were found in a cove off Big Sur  Conservation Efforts
Today ~2,800 Otters
Populations have fluctuated
Cats linked to the decline of otters
Recently more have been found dead due to shark bites

21. Importance of Sea Otters
Keystone Species/Predator
A important species that if removed from the ecosystem, would change the ecosystem drastically

22. Environmental Issues

23. Trophic Cascade What do you observe in the picture?

24. Trophic Cascade

25. Trophic Cascade
When otter populations decreases, what happens to urchin populations?
When urchin populations increase, what happens to kelp population?
Urchin Barrens: An area where Urchins have completely eaten and destroyed the kelp
Why is it bad if kelp population decreases?

26. Case Studies
Finding Floating Forests
What lives in a Kelp Forest