Forest of the sea : the remarkable life and imperiled future of kelp / David Helvarg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Helvarg, David, 1951- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kelps--History.

Kelps.

Kelps--Conservation.

Physical Description:

252 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Island Press imprint, Princeton University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"In a matter of decades, a spectacular cold-water paradise thirty million years in the making is succumbing to warming oceans. Kelp forests are largely out of sight, hidden under the ocean's surface, yet they are one of Earth's most wonderous and underappreciated marine habitats. It's an ethereal light-infused realm of sharks, otters, eels, sea stars, crabs, rockfish, and myriad other species vital to a functioning ocean and the countless coastal communities that make their living from the sea. Unlike coral reefs, whose similar plight plays out in tropical waters highly visible to vacationing tourists, kelp forests thrive along cold-water coastlines far from tourist centers. What will it take to stop the decline before these underwater playgrounds bursting with colorful life become vast fields of lifeless urchin barrens? For readers who know kelp only as tangles on the ocean surface or smelly mounds of seaweed littering beaches, Forest of the Sea reveals a thriving three-dimensional underwater world of color and beauty whose loss if allowed to happen will reverberate in unimaginable ways for both nature and humans. David Helvarg, a veteran journalist and accomplished scuba diver, takes us on a memorable journey beneath the waves through kelp's natural and human history, the billions of dollars of products and services it contributes to our global economy, the unwitting human activities that threaten its survival, and the hopeful movements around the world to restore kelp habitat. Helvarg introduces us to Indigenous leaders promoting sea otter reintroduction, out-of-work urchin fisherman, documentary filmmakers, and ocean scientists all working in an unlikely collaboration to restore and protect kelp forests while promoting a growing range of uses for food, medicine, and energy. Forest of the Sea is the first book to document what is at stake if we lose these irreplaceable marine jewels, helping readers to understand how these natural systems might adapt and survive."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Entangled

Chapter 1. The Kelp Highway

Chapter 2. Otter Things

Chapter 3. Blobs, Zombies, and Algae Labs

Chapter 4. Wild Harvest

Chapter 5. Forest to Farms

Chapter 6. Fort Bragg

Chapter 7. Pan Fried to Extinction

Chapter 8. Kelp is the New Coral

Chapter 9. Seaweed Rebels

Chapter 10. Triage for the Ocean

Acknowledgements

Recommended Readings

About the Author

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

9781642833829

1642833827

OCLC:

1543505054

Publisher Number:

CIPO000367208