TRW sea divers kelp restoration project

The TRW SEA Divers Club has been involved for more than two years in an ambitious project to restore the giant kelp to Pt. Vicente Cove on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. A kelp habitat is being constructed which will provide protection to transplanted kelp plants. The kelp plants, with this protection, would then comprise a "fertility center\´\´ for spore production. These spores would settle on the surrounding rocks and proliferate the kelp thus accomplishing our objective. The project can be divided into three phases. The first phase is the habitat construction and kelp emplacement. The second phase is concurrent with the first and third phases and consists of marine fauna behavior studies, primarily on sea urchins. The third phase will consist of activities designed to ensure the survival of the sporophytes developing on the surrounding rocks. The project status and future plans will be described emphasizing the accomplishments of volunteer divers on an essentially unfunded program.