What’s killing west coast kelp and what we stand to lose.

In the latest episode of Changing Waters, Global Ocean Health’s Deputy Director Julia Sanders interviews kelp guru, Dr. Tom Mumford from the Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington in Seattle.   From Northern California to Southern Oregon, kelp is undergoing devastating losses, with 95% of kelp forests transformed into urchin barrens.   Tom explains what happened and the miraculous benefits kelp provides as an ecosystem engineer and as a source for new scientific discoveries.   From kelp-derived plastic you can eat, to wound care, from rediscovering how kelp can help farmers, to a critical contributor to biodiversity and marine food webs, there is much to be gained from kelp.  Catch this episode of Changing Waters and open your eyes to a miracle macroalgae and the struggle to keep it thriving in changing ocean conditions.