Kelp Mapping on SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island- Skim the Surface with Eden
It has been a busy field season for Conservancy staff, and we would like to share a behind-the-scenes view into our incredible ₭O¸EṈ | kelp mapping program! A few months ago, I shared an update about eelgrass mapping, and while we work on processing that data, we have been enjoying more time in the beautiful subtidal and intertidal zones of SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island.
The Mayne Island Conservancy has been mapping kelp since 2010, making 2025 our 16th field season. Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is a remarkable annual species of brown algae that grows from the coast of Alaska all the way down to California. Its canopy-forming nature creates underwater forests that serve as habitat for marine life such as juvenile salmon, sea stars, rockfish, and kelp crab. Such rich ecosystems also form an important hunting ground for harbour seals, sea birds, sea lions, and orca.
Warming waters and other climate change impacts threaten the resilience of kelp forests. This ultimately increases the vulnerability of the larger marine ecosystem and the many human communities that rely on it for social, cultural, economic, and recreational purposes. It becomes easy to understand why having a monitoring strategy in place that connects a network of communities across the region is critical to the protection of these unique habitats.
This year, as part of my role as an Ecosystem Technician, I’ve had the honour of coordinating the monitoring of the SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island kelp sites and taking the lead on processing and visualizing the data from all four project partners. While our kayak-based kelp mapping program was initially limited to SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island, we are now in our 7th year of partnering with the Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA), Pender Islands Conservancy Association (PICA), and the Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society (SIMRES).
In the lead up to our survey windows in August, Rob and I traveled to Galiano, Saturna, and Pender in July to meet with each organization and provide training for their staff and volunteers. This was a highlight of my work on the kelp project because it strengthened connections between the conservancies and brought so many like-minded, passionate people together (all because of kelp!). I am now in regular communication with the kelp lead coordinator from each organization. The opportunity to meet everyone in person before the fieldwork began was so valuable.
This year’s Mayne Island kelp mapping team includes me, our Stewardship Coordinator, Justine, one of our ecosystem technicians, Kassidy, and our superstar volunteer, Jillian (and occasionally her dog Chinook). Together we surveyed Conconi Reef, Helen Point, Curlew Island/East Horton Bay, Georgeson Island, Seal Beach, and Georgina Point.
Kelp surveys are done during certain windows of time when kelp beds are most visible and accessible to map. The primary factors that went into planning survey days were the low tide time and the wind forecast. While we only go out in conditions that allow for consistent, accurate, and safe mapping, kayak-based surveys certainly provided us with some adventures! From fighting strong currents while mapping the shores of Curlew Island, to escaping ferry wake crashing on the rocks, it was a very memorable couple of weeks. Of course, paddling along the shores also gave us a front row seat to some beautiful marine creatures such as thousands of anemones, schools of fish, sea cucumbers, crab, and sea stars.
With data collection wrapped up, I now have the large and exciting task of entering the data collected at our 17 sites. In several months we will share a summary of the results, with site-by-site maps and figures illustrating the presence, or lack thereof, of kelp throughout our selected sites in the Southern Gulf Islands. If you want to learn more in the meantime, all of our kelp article and reports can be found on the Kelp Bed Monitoring page on our website!
We Need Your Help In 2026!
While it might seem far away, we are always looking for keen volunteers to support our staff with our annual marine fieldwork. If you’re interested in kayaking along SḴŦAḴ | Mayne Island’s shoreline and learning more about bull kelp, this is an incredible opportunity to engage in citizen science that is shared with collaborators and supporters through out the Pacific Northwest! 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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