What began last spring as a pilot project dreamt up by scientists and commercial fishermen has restored an underwater forest in the Santa Barbara Channel. The project was renewed for another season and will be showcased in the feature-length documentary Harvest to Heal, premiering at the Santa Barbara Surf Film Festival at Arlington Theatre this Thursday.
Spoiler alert: This story has a good ending.
Reviving the Forest
Kelp forests, like trees in the Amazon, provide habitat and absorb carbon. But warmer waters and past El Niño storms decimated the once-abundant kelp forests that surrounded the Channel Islands and lined the coast from El Capitan to Rincon Point.
Overgrazing by purple urchins — whose populations went unchecked after disease killed off sea stars, their primary predator — only made the problem worse by creating “urchin barrens,” where they carpet areas of the sea floor and mow down any kelp in their path…