FORT BRAGG, CA., 10/4/26 — North Coast KelpFest is a festival about one thing: the bull kelp forests off this coast, and the work to bring them back. The third annual fest runs Thursday, Oct. 8, through Monday, Oct. 12, in Fort Bragg and Mendocino. There are science talks and restoration tours. There are beach walks, a parade, art, food and films.
Bull kelp is a brown seaweed. It grows from the rocky sea floor to the surface, up to 60 feet in a single season, according to festival organizers. Where it grows thick, it makes a forest, and much of the coast’s sea life depends on it. Herring spawn in it. Rockfish live in it. Seals hunt in it. Young salmon make the move to salt water in it, organizers say. Red sea urchins and abalone eat it.
Most of that forest is gone. Bull kelp in Mendocino and Sonoma counties began a dramatic decline in 2014, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Festival organizers, citing canopy mapping, put the loss at more than 96% by 2023…