No one yet knows how sea life will respond to an urban fire of this magnitude. Kelp may be one of the first species to tell us. “They’re a big sentinel species that are indicators of how our ...

The rich resources of Pacific kelp forests helped humans populate the Americas. Now depleted by as much as 95 percent, they need our help to recover.

Adorably fuzzy sea otters aren’t just cute. The marine mammals serve a crucial role, helping to restore the giant kelp forests they rely on by removing their top predators, the sea urchins.

When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers saw kelp forests return to areas that were destroyed by sea urchins.

Pismo clams, once abundant along the California coast, are being grown and studied in a middle school classroom.

Kelp may be one of the first species to show how coastal ecosystems will respond to the L.A. fires. These forests of fast-growing brown algae provide food and habitat for hundreds of marine ...

No one yet knows how sea life will respond to an urban fire of this magnitude. Kelp may be one of the first species to tell us. "They're a big sentinel species that are indicators of how our ...

A giant sea bass swims amid kelp at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Kelp is highly sensitive to environmental changes. Fluctuations in temperature, light availability, nutrients and ...