by Chelsea Moreno, ENC Communications Intern
This season’s heavy storms were a dream for the drought, but were a nightmare for California’s kelp forests. Kelp populations have sunk to an all-time low in California after a series of severe storms, according to The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Don’t let this get you down, because there is so much you can do to help restore our local kelp forests! Visit us on Thursday, March 23, 2017 to hear Capt. Nancy Caruso speak about her work restoring Orange County’s giant kelp forests, white seabass and green abalone.
Nancy has spent much of her life dedicated to conserving our local kelp forests. She began by starting The Orange County Ocean Restoration Project, which has taught 5,000 students how to grow giant kelp in their own classrooms. This class-grown kelp is planted by trained volunteers and has restored kelp forests in areas that had not seen kelp for over 25 years!
Nancy has since started “Get Inspired!,” a nonprofit organization devoted to restoring the kelp ecosystems by inspiring stewardship and curiosity for the natural world through exploration of science. Read more about Nancy HERE.
She doesn’t stop there! Nancy has started a project to help restore green abalone populations along the coast with the help of public aquaria, museums and Southern California students. Over 10 years, the project will educate millions on how humans nearly wiped out abalone populations, but with a little teamwork, we can bring them back.
Purchase your tickets to hear an inspiring talk about getting involved and doing all you can to help restore our local kelp forests!
When: Thursday, March 23, 2017
6:00-7:00 pm: Open House with appetizers and wine
7:00 pm: Presentation
Sign up HERE.