Field Notes8 min read
Field Notes: Abalone Back in the Quadrats
Seven years after seeding began on Tasmania's Lumeriah Coast, juvenile blacklip abalone are turning up in the monitoring quadrats again. Here's why that matters.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Ocean restoration, industrialised
We grow kelp forests at planetary scale.
Kelp forests are among the most productive ecosystems on Earth — and they are vanishing. Tidewright restores them with autonomous vessels, climate-resilient seedstock and a blue-carbon economy that pays for the work.
The problem
Forests you can’t see are the ones we’re losing fastest.
A mature kelp forest rivals a rainforest for productivity. It feeds sea urchins and fish, shelters juvenile abalone, blunts storm swell and draws down carbon.
But marine heatwaves are intensifying, urchin barrens are spreading, and coastal pollution is clouding the shallow light kelp needs. In some regions, more than half the forest has vanished in living memory — quietly, underwater, out of sight. Once the canopy goes, the reef can flip into a barren state that resists recovery on its own.
Restoration works — we know how to bring these forests back. What was missing was scale: a way to reseed hundreds of hectares, prove the results, and fund it all without permanent philanthropy. That’s the system Tidewright built.
How it works
One platform, from spore to verified forest.
Four products work as a single system: find the right reef, seed it with the right kelp, prove what grew, and let the harvest fund the next site.
Impact
Restoration you can count.
Program figures reported by Tidewright, September 2025. Tidewright is a fictional company created as a design and content demonstration. Numbers shown for the demonstration are illustrative.
- 4,200ha
- of reef reseeded or under active restoration
- 63sites
- across six coastlines, from Tasmania to Hokkaido
- 184species
- recorded returning to restored reefs
- 118ktCO₂e
- in the verified blue-carbon pipeline
Proof on the water
Trusted by the coast.
“The barrens off our harbour turned a corner within two seasons. Tidewright’s crews showed up, stayed, and kept showing us the data.”
Councillor Renee Avery
Marrawah Coastal Council
“It’s the first restoration program our rangers were asked to co-design instead of just host. The difference shows in the water.”
Daniel Yarli
Kudjela Sea Country Rangers
“Canopy Ledger’s verification packs were the most audit-ready blue-carbon documentation our team has reviewed.”
Meridian Climate Fund
Impact investment partner
Partner names and quotes are part of the fictional Tidewright world.
Who we work with
Every coast has its own way in.
Learn the water
Two reference libraries — and routes through them.
From the Journal
Knowledge, open to everyone.
Farming12 min read
Feeding Abalone with Kelp: Diets, Delivery and Why the Pairing Works
Abalone are built to eat kelp, but feeding them well is a craft. Feed forms, rationing by size and temperature, delivery gear, and how kelp shapes growth, colour and health.
Naomi Reyes ·
Atlas7 min read
Abel Tasman & Golden Bay: Granite Arches, Scallop Sands and Northern South Island Kelp
Granite headlands, golden sand and golden kelp: New Zealand's smallest national park meets scallop country at the top of the South Island.
Tom Okafor ·
The tide turns when enough of us pull. Pull with us.
Councils, fisheries, carbon buyers, dive operators, schools — there’s a way in for every coastline and every budget.