Help the Kelp – Kelp Mapping on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island
If you asked me what my biggest fear was as a kid, I probably would have said seaweed. This summer at the Mayne Island Conservancy I really had to face that fear. As Ecosystems Technician I had the honour of coordinating the kelp monitoring program on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island and playing a supporting role in the Southern Gulf Islands Bull Kelp Monitoring Collaboration.
2026 Surveys
Leading up to the program, Rob and I boated over to Galiano, Pender, and Saturna to provide training for the staff and volunteers who would be participating in the survey. It was also a great opportunity to strengthen relationships between conservancies and meet like-minded folks as enthusiastic about kelp as we were!
During the survey period in August, twenty different sites were surveyed by over 30 volunteers and field technicians from the Mayne Island Conservancy, Galiano Island Conservancy, Pender Islands Conservancy, and the Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society. We got lucky with the wind during our low tide window and surveying went without a hitch.
On SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island, our crew, including Justine (the Conservancy’s renowned Education Coordinator), Kamilla (my fellow Ecosystems Technician), Jillian (a rockstar kelp surveyor), Brad (an indispensable first-time volunteer), and myself surveyed six sites including Helen Point, Seal Beach, Georgina Point, Conconi Reef, Curlew Island, and Georgeson Island.
The Value of Long Term Data
The real fun for me didn’t begin until after the fieldwork was finished and the data processing began. This year we celebrate the 17th birthday of our kelp monitoring dataset on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island. If our dataset was a teenager, it would have a driver’s license. The importance of long-term data cannot be understated, especially in ecosystems as dynamic as kelp forests. Because of its massive growth rates, bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) responds quickly to changes in its environment, such as rising sea surface temperature and predator-prey relationships. Monitoring its distribution and abundance over long periods of time is essential to detecting patterns of change. With global declines in bull kelp, we are doing our part to help understand the drivers of bull kelp decline and monitor local changes. We release an annual summary of results that is publicly available and distributed to more than 40 organizations working together on kelp monitoring and restoration. Our 2026 summary report will be released in late fall of 2026.
How to Help the Kelp
Despite its merits, long term monitoring projects are difficult to fund, even ones like this that include community engagement and that have volunteers who are contributing their time to reduce the costs. Funders often want to see direct results over short timeframes so they can quickly report the success of their investment to their target audience. For example, government funders looking for voter support or corporations looking to improve their image. Long-term environmental monitoring like that needed to assess the health of kelp beds rarely provides results within the short timeframe those parties are interested in.
Our work to monitor nearshore marine environments requires funding for staff time, equipment, and overhead. Discretionary funds made up 100% of the cash operating costs of our Shoreline Care Program this year, which includes our eelgrass monitoring, bull kelp monitoring, Dungeness crab monitoring, shoreline cleanups, and associated public education programs. These discretionary funds come primarily from community donations. If you agree this work is important and are able, please make a donation here.
If you are interested in kayaking, keen to learn more about marine ecosystems, and looking to get involved with citizen science that is shared throughout the Pacific Northwest, consider volunteering for our 2027 round of surveying. Volunteers need to provide their own kayak and safety equipment and be comfortable paddling within 200m of shore under light wind conditions. Please contact Rob at biologist@mayneconservancy.ca if you’d like to be involved next summer.
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