In 2015, scientists with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) began a collaborative monitoring program with scientists from Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS). These research divers collected data from 5 sites along the upper half of the Olympic Peninsula, diving in kelp forests to survey the fishes, invertebrates, and algae.
Initially the focus was to examine how the reintroduction of sea otters affected coastal kelp forests. But sea star wasting syndrome, multiple marine heatwaves, and a nearly coast-wide population increase of sea urchins combined to create a new imperative: how would kelp forests in OCNMS change?
After a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, the science team is headed back to OCNMS and the Olympic Peninsula, diving from La Push up the coast to Neah Bay. Divers plan to survey all 5 sites during the last week of July, weather permitting.
Read more about the project at this NMFS web page.