As Kelp Forests Again Reach for the Ocean Surface in Santa Monica Bay, Life Follows.

The difference is like night and day. What was once a barren underwater landscape of reef overrun by millions of urchins is now a kelp forest teeming with life. Anchored to the sea floor, long stalks of kelp tower in the water, their giant fronds bouncing with the current. Schools of fish flit through the greenery. Kelp forests provide habitat and food for more than 700 species, but 80 percent of the kelp forests in Santa Monica Bay have been lost in the past 100 years. Only a few centuries ago, Indigenous people thrived alongside the bay, which had a rich and balanced life...