Kelp Forest Ecosystems of the California Central Coast
Habitats Worth Protecting With National Marine Sanctuary Designation
by Carol Georgi and Karl Kempton
(Former Energy Planner for San Luis Obispo County and
Lead Author of "Proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary, 1990")
Introduction
Kelp forests are among the most productive ecosystems on earth and worthy of ocean protection. "Jean-Michael Cousteau: Ocean Adventures, Kelp Forest" video by PBS gives an intriguing introduction to the balance of life within California's coastal kelp forests.
Kelp forests are diverse and complex communities that occur offshore along much of the California coastline from Santa Rosa Creek to Point Conception. These kelp forests are considered part of the most important kelp forest regime in the world, from the Channel Islands north beyond Santa Cruz.
Description of Kelp Forests
Kelp forests (also called kelp beds) typically consist of several layers of vegetation, comparable to the vertical structure of terrestrial forests. The dominant plants are the perennial Giant Kelp, Macrocystis Pyrifera, and the annual Bull Kelp, Nereocystis Leutkeana.
These large brown algae rise on long stipes from the ocean floor and have blades that spread out over the surface forming dense canopies over smaller plants and animals. Such kelp forests are interesting and economically valuable for their intrinsic ecological complexity, the associated fish and invertebrate resources and for the production of alginate compounds that are commercially harvested.
Giant Kelp is one of the fastest growing plants known. Growing an average of over ten inches a day in spring, it may reach a length of
250 feet. Giant Kelp usually grows on rocky bottoms, attaching to rocks with its strong holdfast and occurs at depths from 20 to 200 feet.
Below the dominant kelp layer there may be an intermingling of Feather Boa Kelp, Egregia Menziesii, and an understory of shorter kelps such as Laminaria. Closer to the bottom is a layer composed of various species of low-growing red and brown algae, with Crustose and Coralline algae forming the base layer.
From Cayucos north passed the San Luis Obispo County line, Giant Kelp forms extensive and dense beds that are commercially harvested for their alginate compounds. Bull Kelp beds can be found from Cayucos south to Point Conception and further south.
This Kelp Forest video shows caring for the kelp in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Kelp forests provide food and shelter for an array of organisms. The kelp blades and holdfasts are home to invertebrates such as hydroids, bryozoans, worms, snails, crabs, amphipods and brittle stars. Anemones, abalones, sea stars, sea urchins and sea cumbers live on the rocky bottom. Some animals graze directly on the living plants, whereas others feed on plant material that has broken off by storms and has drifted to the sea floor.
Kelp beds are inhabited by such fish as blacksmith, kelp bass, surfperch, and several species of rockfish. Sea otters live in the canopy, feeding on abalone, sea urchins and other invertebrates they catch on the bottom. Harbor seals and other marine mammals enter the kelp beds to forage for fish.
The Kelp Forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the tallest aquarium exhibits (28 feet) in the world. Here you can see and learn about the marine life in the kelp forest.
Threats to Kelp Forests by Nuclear Power Plants
Threats to California's Central Coast Kelp Forests from Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (DCNPP) have continued to diminish these ocean ecosystems and to negatively affect local fishing and the coastal economy in three main ways.
1) Actual destruction by Once Through Cooling (OTC) - OTC is discussed in our section,"Diablo Cove and Diablo Nuclear Power Plant (DNPP) use of Once Through Cooling (OTC)" in the January, 2012 SlO Coast Journal.
2) Destruction That Will be Caused by Seismic Testing - Two important articles discuss the pending seismic tests: (A) PG&E Moving to Conduct Seismic Studies Off Diablo Canyon by Jack McCurdy
Synopsis: PG&E, owner of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, is required under state law to conduct ocean floor studies of the potential for earthquakes near the nuclear plant, but fishermen are alarmed that the tests may destroy the marine life from Cambria to Avila Beach and could wipe out their livelihood for an indefinite period. The tests face many unresolved obstacles.
(B) Viewpoint by Lori French published in San Luis Obispo Tribune April 19, 2012, "Diablo Seismic Study Would Damage Marine Life." Lori states, "There is a very serious threat to our fisheries and all marine mammal life looming in the very near future courtesy of PG&E."
3) Potential Destruction of the Marine Environment by Nuclear Accident
Conclusion
We are concerned for the survival of California's Coastal Kelp Forests, the fishing community, and the central coast economy.
Diablo's licenses for its two nuclear reactors end in 2024 and 2025 after 40 years of operation. The nuclear waste could remain onsite for 250+ years, and it will need to be contained and guarded somewhere for 250,000 years. California's mandated seismic studies are planned to determine if this toxic material is safely stored and if DCNPP can withstand potential earthquakes.
Seismic studies are also planned in Southern California near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), a nuclear power plant located on the Pacific coast of California, in the northwestern corner of San Diego County.
Both of these nuclear power plants plan to file for relicensing. If relicensed, DCNPP could operate for 60 years. The oldest nuclear power plant (44 years) just shut down February 29, 2012 in Oldbury-on-Severn in South Gloucestershire, England.
We question the necessity of continuing operation for unneeded energy from California's two aging nuclear power plants. We wonder if closing these two nuclear power plants will save unnecessary ocean ecosystem destruction and the local fishing industry from collapse.
