Monitoring Salish Sea bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) via kayak surveys

Conspicuous declines in the abundance of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), the most common canopy-forming species in Puget Sound, have been observed in many areas. Despite these observations, little information on abundance, or temporal changes in kelp distribution have been scientifically documented. To document and increase attention to changes in kelp populations around the region, the Northwest Straits Initiative formed a Salish Sea International Kelp Alliance and developed a scientifically-driven monitoring protocol. Citizen scientists of the Northwest Straits Marine Resources Committees then applied the protocol to delineate kelp beds via kayak over the summers of 2015-2107. The protocol has now been added to the Washington State Puget Sound Estuarine Monitoring Program PSEMP Nearshore Monitoring Toolbox and is very similar to protocols used by citizen science groups in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. This presentation provides a summary of results on changes in extent observed throughout summer months, as well as, changes observed over the 3 years of sampling. To date, more than 177 Bull kelp kayak surveys, at 42 sites, have been acquired in 7 counties of the Northwest Straits over 3 summers. Fourteen of the sites have a full 3 years of data on presence/absence, acreage and ancillary measurements of depth and temperature. Data will be made available from the Northwest Straits online mapping application SoundIQ linked to interactive maps, data, photos and summary results in Storymap format