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Tidewright

Coastal Atlas · Region

The Northeast Pacific

Nowhere else does a single ecosystem trace such a line: more than ten thousand kilometres of near-continuous temperate reef from the Aleutian arc to the tip of Baja California. Giant kelp and bull kelp trade places along it, sea otters patrol it, and every oceanographic event of the last decade — the Blob, the great sea-star die-off, the heatwave summers of the 2020s — has been written into its forests. This is the coastline where kelp ecology was invented, and where its future is being decided in real time.

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Stylised world map highlighting 59 Coastal Atlas guides in The Northeast PacificAleutian Islands — Otters, urchins and the far-western arc of bull kelpHaida Gwaii — Kelp forests at the edge of the continentVancouver Island — The wild west coast — swell, wolves and kelpOlympic Coast — Washington’s wilderness kelp below the Olympic rainforestPoint Reyes — Where the upwelling engine feeds a forestMendocino Coast — Life — and loss — on California’s bull kelp frontierMonterey Bay — The submarine canyon that feeds kelp, otters and whalesChannel Islands — California’s kelp forest crown jewelsCatalina Island — Clear water, garibaldi and a living kelp laboratoryBaja California — The warm-water southern frontier of giant kelpKangaroo Island — Kelp, seadragons and serious southern swellGreat Southern Reef — Australia’s forgotten kelp continentTasmania, east coast — The front line of southern-hemisphere kelp lossTasmanian giant kelp — What happened to the vanishing forests — and what’s being doneMaria Island — Tasmania’s island kelp sanctuaryJervis Bay — Kelp, seagrass and famously white sandMornington Peninsula — Melbourne’s kelp — dragons, piers and the HeadsStewart Island / Rakiura — New Zealand’s southernmost kelp strongholdHokkaido — Kombu grades, kelp roads and the Shiretoko wildsSanriku Coast — Ria-coast kelp, recovery and resilience after the tsunamiLofoten — Kelp forests under the northern lightsWest Scotland — Oarweed forests among the HebridesBrittany — Europe’s largest kelp forests — and its seaweed harvestRías of Galicia — Where kelp meets the harvest — and the mussel raftsCape Peninsula — Kelp at the edge of Africa, in two oceans at onceChile, Humboldt coast — The world’s richest kelp frontier, run by fishersStrait of Magellan — Subantarctic kelp at the end of the worldFalkland Islands — Mind-bending kelp beds that feed the Southern OceanSitka Sound — Herring, kelp and cultures beneath Mount EdgecumbePuget Sound — Bull kelp in the inland sea, at a city doorstepHood Canal — A natural fjord of octopus dens, wolf eels and breathless depthsSonoma Coast — Abalone country, after the bull kelpCasino Point — A kelp cathedral in a protected underwater parkFortescue Bay — Tasmania’s deep kelp gardens on the Tasman PeninsulaWellington south coast — Kelp at the capital’s doorstep, inside a marine reserveFiordland — Kelp beneath the mountains; black coral in the shallowsIse-Shima — Kelp gardens and the ama divers of JapanShakotan Peninsula — Hokkaido’s blue-water kelp coastInner Hebrides — Sea lochs, otters and kelp on Mull and SkyeFalse Bay, Cape — Snorkelling the Cape kelp beside a penguin colonyGarden Route — South Africa’s sunny kelp coastParacas, Peru — Kelp and anchoveta where desert meets upwellingGulf of Maine — Kelp meeting one of the fastest-warming seas on EarthNova Scotia — Kelp beds of the North Atlantic lobster coastNewfoundland & Labrador — Cold-water kelp and old cod grounds on Canada’s far eastVancouver Island — Sea otters, bull kelp and First Nations stewardshipOregon Coast — Bull kelp holding on at the upwelling edgeBass Strait — The rough water between two seas — kelp on the island reefsOtago — New Zealand’s southern swell forestsFiordland fiords — Cold-water diving beneath the rain-shadowed peaksBrittany — Europe’s great laminaria bedsOrkney & Shetland — Kelp at Britain’s northern rimNorway, taretrawling coast — How industrial kelp harvest shaped a nation’s coastNorway, mid-coast — Trondheim to the tangle kelp frontierSouth Africa — Where two oceans grow one forestSaldanha & Langebaan — South Africa’s quiet west-coast kelpSkeleton Coast, Namibia — Kelp at the desert’s edge on the Skeleton CoastMonterey Breakwater — The easy kelp forest shore dive, step by stepCornwall — Britain’s Celtic edge — seals, spring blooms and golden kelpShetland Islands — Otters, wrecks and clear Atlantic water at 60° NorthSenja, Arctic Norway — Kelp forests where mountains dive into the Barents SeaLoch Carron, Scotland — Maerl beds and kelp mazes in a sheltered Highland sea lochMilford Sound, Fiordland — A kelp forest that never sees the sun — under a freshwater ceilingOtago Peninsula — Royal albatross overhead, bull kelp and sea lions belowRickett’s Point, Melbourne — Melbourne’s pocket marine sanctuary of the Great Southern ReefCape Point, Cape Town — Two-ocean kelp diving among sharks and granite coresSydney — The crayweed comeback on the city coastKamchatka — Kelp forests on the Pacific’s wild far shoreIceland — Kelp forests where warm and Arctic currents collideFaroe Islands — Kelp in one of the world’s strongest tidal landscapesHelgoland — Germany’s only kelp island — and a century of marine recordsGreenland, southwest coast — The kelp frontier — forests expanding in a warming ArcticHudson Bay — Churchill coast — Sugar kelp under half a year of sea ice, belugas in the estuarySvalbard — Kelp in polar light — the High Arctic’s underwater forestsBanks Peninsula — Drowned-volcano harbours, kelp and Hector’s dolphinsCook Strait — Kelp in the torn narrows between two islandsChatham Islands — Bull kelp forests alone in the roaring fortiesSnares & Antipodes — New Zealand’s most remote kelp wildernessAmakusa, Kyushu — Nori and wakame craft on Kyushu’s island fringeBay of Fundy — Kelp and rockweed under the highest tides on EarthGulf of St Lawrence — Green kelp under the Magdalen tidesMagdalen Islands — Red sandstone, seals and kelp in the island gulfHakai Passage — Cold green water, sea otters and a living kelp laboratoryIreland, west coast — Storm kelp and harvest memory on the Wild Atlantic WayIsle of Man — An island-scale kelp census in the Irish SeaPortugal — The southern edge of the European kelp rangeLundy Island — England’s original marine reserve and its kelp wallsWhite Sea — Kelp forests under ice in a sheltered Arctic seaBruny Island — Tasmania’s southern kelp garden at the bottom of the mapWilsons Promontory — granite reefs and kelp forests at mainland Australia’s southern tipPortsea Pier — A shallow weedy-seadragon shore dive under a working timber pier at the edge of the HeadsRapid Bay Jetty — Leafy seadragons under twin jetties on the Fleurieu PeninsulaMontague Island — Australia’s fur-seal snorkel capital on kelp-fringed granite off NaroomaHead of Bight — Whales above the cliffs, kelp at their feetLeeuwin Capes — Kelp at the warm edge where the Leeuwin Current beginsPort Phillip Bay — Melbourne’s sheltered kelp and seadragon city gardenEsperance & the Recherche — Granite islands, white sand and golden kelpSydney, crayweed coast — The city that planted its forest backGough Island — World Heritage kelp beds at the world’s loneliest weather stationKerguelen Islands — Giant kelp in one of Earth’s most remote archipelagosTristan da Cunha — Kelp ringing the remotest inhabited island on EarthPrince William Sound — Kelp recovery in Alaska’s great fjorded seaKodiak Archipelago — Bears above, kelp below on Alaska’s emerald coastWhytecliff Park, Vancouver — Vancouver’s front-yard kelp wall, an easy shore diveDeception Pass, Washington — Current, wharf piles and bull kelp in the narrowsPoint Lobos, Monterey — The reserved slot at California’s crown-jewel cove diveMacquarie Island — Subantarctic giant kelp on a celebrated recovery storyBicheno, Tasmania — Tasmania’s quiet red-rock reef — sponges, kelp and clear waterKapiti Island — A marine reserve inside Wellington’s wild weatherPoor Knights Islands — Golden kelp in clear subtropical water at the boundary currentNorthland — Where New Zealand’s warm and cold currents meet — kelp, kina and the recovery lessonAuckland & Campbell Islands — The kelp kingdom nobody visits — New Zealand’s subantarctic wildsKorea, East Sea coast — Ecklonia cava forests and the haenyeo of the east coastJeju Island — The haenyeo coast and Korea’s living seaweed cultureKuril Islands — Kelp forests on the Pacific’s fiercest volcanic arcTaiwan, northeast coast — Kelp, Longdong’s dive reefs and the Kuroshio edgeMoray Firth — Dolphins, salmon and kelp on Scotland’s northeast shoulderPembrokeshire — Kelp, islands and tidal races on the Welsh frontierIsles of Scilly — Kelp, seals and clear Atlantic water off England’s far westChannel Islands, UK — Kelp at the warm edge of the English Channel rangeChiloé Island — Kelp, salmon country and the working coast of southern ChileChilean Patagonian channels — Kelp inside Chile’s drowned Andes — fjords, corals and whalesBeagle Channel — Kelp where Darwin first saw the forestSouth Georgia — Giant kelp at the edge of the iceGreat Bear Rainforest — Kelp forests beneath the world’s largest intact temperate rainforestHowe Sound — Vancouver’s fjord — glass sponges and recovering kelpBarkley Sound — Broken islands, kelp and a living laboratoryGerstle Cove, Salt Point — Sonoma’s reserve cove — abalone country turned sanctuaryPoint Loma, San Diego — One of the world’s great giant kelp forests at a city’s edgeGoat Island, Leigh — New Zealand’s first marine reserve and its easy kelp snorkelFoveaux Strait — Oyster grounds and bull kelp in New Zealand’s torn southern straitMurmansk coast — Arctic kelp where the Gulf Stream finally runs out of heatBohuslän, Sweden — Granite skerries and kelp on Sweden’s west coastBornholm — The Baltic’s last real kelp, clinging to a granite islandDevon — Kelp along England’s southwest peninsulaIroise Sea, Finistère — France’s great kelp reserve at the corner of BrittanyCantabria, Spain — Kelp at the southern edge of its European rangeAzores — Deep golden kelp gardens on mid-Atlantic volcanoesAzores — Volcanic shores holding the Atlantic’s oceanic kelp frontierRhode Island — Kelp on New England’s warm southern edgeCape Ann — Granite ledges and cold-water kelp on Boston’s doorstepGaspé Peninsula — Cold clear kelp water at the mouth of the St LawrencePenínsula Valdés — Kelp, whales and orcas on Argentina’s Patagonian shoreGulf of San Matías — Patagonia’s sea within a sea — giant kelp, scallops and seven-metre tidesCrozet Islands — Giant kelp wrapping the subantarctic’s loneliest archipelagoAmsterdam Island — A narrow giant-kelp ring on one of Earth’s most isolated specks of landThe Snares / Tini Heke — Storm-built bull kelp and endemic penguins on granite you may not touchTristan da Cunha — Giant kelp ringing the most remote inhabited archipelago on EarthPrince Edward Islands — Kelp, albatross and seals in the roaring fortiesGulf St Vincent — Adelaide’s shallow inverse-estuary sea of kelp and seadragonsAlgoa Bay — Where the great Cape kelp forest reaches its eastern limitAnglesey — Kelp, tidal races and bird islands off North WalesBig Sur — Giant kelp clinging to California’s steepest coastlineCape Breton Island — Kelp where the Gulf meets the open AtlanticThe Catlins — Bull kelp on New Zealand’s forgotten southern coastSecond Valley, SA — Shore-diving leafy seadragon country on the FleurieuCounty Donegal — Storm kelp on Ireland’s wild northwest cornerDorset, Jurassic Coast — Kelp ledges beneath England’s fossil cliffsFirth of Clyde — A grand sea on Scotland’s west coast, slowly recoveringNorthern Gulf of California — Kelp holding its warm-water edge in the Sea of CortezHeard & McDonald Islands — Kelp in the shadow of an active subantarctic volcanoIzu Peninsula — Japan’s warm kelp coast within reach of TokyoKing George Sound, Albany — A sheltered kelp jewel on Western Australia’s south coastLabrador — The subarctic kelp coast almost nobody seesMarion Island — Kelp, mice and albatross in the roaring fortiesMarlborough Sounds — Kelp in the drowned valleys at the top of the South IslandCotentin Peninsula — Normandy’s tidal kelp races at the corner of the ChannelNoto Peninsula — Home of satoumi, Japan’s art of coastal stewardshipOuter Hebrides — Tangle kelp on Scotland’s Atlantic frontierSado Island — Kelp, tub boats and the gold-mining coastYellow Sea (Shandong) — The farming heartland where kelp feeds a nationAzores — Volcanic reefs and kelp at the Atlantic’s midpointCanary Islands — Kelp forests on the edge of the SaharaCook Inlet, Alaska — Kelp beds in the land of bore tides and glacial siltGulf of Alaska — A thousand leagues of wild kelp shoreThe Kattegat — Kelp forests holding on in brackish waterKermadec Islands — Where New Zealand’s kelp reaches toward the tropicsLüderitz, Namibia — Benguela kelp growing against a desert shoreNewfoundland, east coast — Kelp and cold water in Iceberg AlleyRías Baixas, Galicia — Kelp, harvesters and the Galician tideSan Juan Islands — Bull kelp in the Salish Sea’s racing channelsHoutman Abrolhos — Where kelp and coral share the same reefDalmatian Coast — Cystoseira forests on the drowned karst of CroatiaEden, Twofold Bay — Kelp, whales and whaling history on the Sapphire CoastBoston Harbor Islands — Rockweed shores and kelp minutes from downtown BostonCape Arago, Oregon — Tidepools and bull kelp on Oregon’s rugged headlandFalkland kelp belt — Kelp so dense it damps the wavesKaikōura — Kelp, canyon currents and whales on one coastCalifornia’s Lost Coast — Roadless kelp wilderness under the King RangeCascais coast — Kelp on Lisbon’s rocky doorstepSaltstraumen — Kelp in the world’s strongest tidal currentShetland Islands — Britain’s far-north kelp, otters and sea cavesSicily — Where canopy Cystoseira still rules the rocksAsturias — Green Spain’s kelp cliffs and cider-coast reefsThe Baltic coasts — Bladderwrack meadow seas at the edge of salinityBasque Coast — Kelp ledges and fishing ports between Geopark cliffsEast Lothian — Kelp, castles and fulmars on Scotland’s southeast shoreGalápagos — A kelp forest rediscovered at the equatorIsle of Man (flora) — Species by species through the Manx tide racesScottish sea lochs — Sheltered kelp down the long, still lochsShikoku — Kelp brooms and a warm current on Shikoku’s Pacific shoreStrait of Juan de Fuca — Bull kelp standing in the gateway to the Salish SeaSydney platforms — Sandstone platforms striped with seaweedWestfjords, Iceland — Iceland’s kelp wilderness of seals and eiderSeto Inland Sea — Seaweed gardens inside Japan’s island seaBantry Bay, West Cork — Kelp forest in a drowned valley — and Ireland’s great harvest battleBasque surf coast — Swell, flysch and the kelp beneath the surf breaksBrowns Bank — An offshore kelp bank science has watched for fifty yearsCorsica — Cystoseira canopy, Posidonia meadows and the Med’s deep-water kelpZhoushan archipelago — A legendary fishing ground where the Yangtze meets the seaEsperance, remote east — Expedition kelp beyond the postcards — Cape Arid to Israelite BayBahía Magdalena — A gray-whale lagoon with kelp holding the outside shoreMagdalena Bay — Standing on the cold–warm seam of kelp’s southern worldIsla Guadalupe — White sharks, fur seals and kelp at the southern edgePribilof Islands — Fur seals, seabird cities and shelf-edge kelp far at seaCommander Islands — Fog-bound kelp wilds at the Aleutian arc’s western endAcadia coast, Maine — Rockweed shores and cold kelp ledges beneath Acadia’s graniteArraial do Cabo, Brazil — Deep, upwelled kelp growing where kelp should not beGreat Barrier Island — Auckland’s wild outer-gulf island of kelp reefs and dark skyPortland–Discovery Bay — Golden kelp in heavy swell on Victoria’s far westWestern Port — Mangroves, mudflats and kelp in Melbourne’s quiet second bayAlaska Peninsula — An 800-km volcanic finger splitting two seas, fringed in kelpPhillip Island — Little penguins above, golden kelp forests belowBlack Sea coast — No true kelp — but ancient Cystoseira forests on brackish reefsSardinia — The Mediterranean’s Cystoseira canopy at its most beautifulNorthumberland coast — Castles on crags, eider ducks and kelp along England’s empty northeastBay of Plenty — Warm-current kelp at its subtropical limit, with volcanic islands offshoreCoromandel Peninsula — Golden kelp, snapper nurseries and the Cathedral Cove marine reserveDerwent Estuary — Kelp restoration in Hobart’s front yard — an industrial estuary healingPort Stephens — The northern hinge of the Great Southern Reef — kelp beside sponge gardensSulu Archipelago — Eucheumatoid seaweed farms staked across Coral Triangle shallowsMontenegro coast — Cystoseira forests beneath the drowned canyon of the Bay of KotorAlbanian Riviera — Karst reefs and algal forests on the Mediterranean’s least-studied coastChonos Archipelago — Chile’s drowned coastal range — kelp channels beside mussel farms and whalesArraial do Cabo — a wind-driven upwelling that parks cold, nutrient-rich water on Brazil’s warm coastBahía de Concepción — Humboldt-fed kelp beds beside Chile’s industrial coast and artisanal dive fisheriesEnsenada — giant kelp at its warm southern range edge, off Bahía de Todos SantosSt Helena Bay — The upwelling heart of the West Coast kelp fringeAbel Tasman / Golden Bay — Split-apple granite, golden-sand anchorages and fern-hung kelp coastAntarctic Peninsula — Seaweed forests clinging to the frozen edge of the kelp worldBig Sur — Vertical cliffs, deep kelp and the steepest shelf in CaliforniaLa Jolla — Kelp canopy growing above the twin submarine canyonsMalibu coast — Historic Hollywood kelp beds, restored beside the cityWest coast, Vancouver Island — Surf-beaten outer coast of glassy swells, canyons and bull kelpBarkley Sound & Bamfield — Broken Group islands, tongue of ocean swell and a century of marine scienceStrait of Georgia — The Salish Sea’s deep central basin between island and mainland mountainsKachemak Bay — Tide-raced Alaskan bay of bull kelp at the end of the roadResurrection Bay — A glacial fjord of kelp walls within easy reach of AnchorageSt Abbs–Eyemouth — Britain’s celebrated marine reserve — kelp walls in East Coast swellAleutian Islands — The wildest, loneliest kelp arc on EarthAnacapa Island — Compact kelp gardens in lee and surge, close to a million peopleBodega Head — A granitic hammerhead of bull kelp and marine-lab memoryCarmel Bay — Four decades of protection under the cypressesClayoquot Sound — Kelp beds at the feet of the ancient rainforestGlacier Bay — New kelp forests colonising the wake of retreating icePoint Lobos — The crown-jewel reserve of American kelp divingPoint Reyes — Wind, fog and upwelling at a continental corner

Stylised position plot, not to scale — teal dots mark guides in The Northeast Pacific; faded dots are coastlines elsewhere in the atlas.

59 coastline guides

Waters: North Pacific / Bering Sea divide · Santa Barbara Channel · North Pacific / California Current margin · North Pacific · North Pacific / Vancouver Island · North Pacific / Monterey Peninsula · Salish Sea · Salish Sea / Howe Sound · Northeast Pacific / California Current · Gulf of Alaska / Inside Passage · North Pacific / BC Central Coast · North Pacific / California Current · Gulf of Alaska · North Pacific / San Diego · Bering Sea · Salish Sea / North Pacific · North Pacific / Pacific Rim · Bering Sea / North Pacific · North Pacific / Hecate Strait · North Pacific / Salish Sea · Bering Sea / North Pacific divide · North Pacific / Santa Barbara Channel · Gulf of Alaska / Kenai Fjords · Cook Inlet / Gulf of Alaska · North Pacific / San Pedro Channel · North Pacific / Monterey Bay · North Pacific / Sonoma coast · North Pacific / San Diego coast · Santa Monica Bay / North Pacific · San Pedro Channel · Gulf of California

North Pacific / Bering Sea divide

The Alaska Peninsula: Where Two Seas Collide over Kelp

An 800-km volcanic finger splitting two seas, fringed in kelp.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Santa Barbara Channel

Anacapa Island: Kelp Forests in the Shadow of the Mainland

Compact kelp gardens in lee and surge, close to a million people.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / California Current margin

Bahía Magdalena: Lagoon Life and Kelp at the Pacific's Edge

A gray-whale lagoon with kelp holding the outside shore.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

A bull kelp forest in cold green water off Barkley Sound, long blades streaming toward the sunlit surface above a rocky reef with white plumose anemones.

North Pacific

Barkley Sound: Kelp, Broken Islands and a Living Laboratory

Broken islands, kelp and a living laboratory.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Vancouver Island

Barkley Sound and Bamfield: A Working Fjord of Kelp and Research

Broken Group islands, tongue of ocean swell and a century of marine science.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Big Sur: Vertical Kelp Country on California's Wildest Coastline

Vertical cliffs, deep kelp and the steepest shelf in California.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Cape Arago: Oregon's Sandstone Kelp Gardens

Tidepools and bull kelp on Oregon’s rugged headland.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Sunbeams slanting through a towering giant kelp forest in Carmel Bay, California, with silvery surfperch between the stipes and an orange garibaldi near a granite reef

North Pacific / Monterey Peninsula

Carmel Bay: Stillwaters, Giant Kelp and Four Decades of Protection

Four decades of protection under the cypresses.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Vancouver Island

Clayoquot Sound: Kelp Beds Beneath the Ancient Rainforest

Kelp beds at the feet of the ancient rainforest.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea

Dive Guide: Deception Pass — Current, Wharf Piles and Kelp

Current, wharf piles and bull kelp in the narrows.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Dive Guide: Point Lobos — The Slot in the Reserve That Fits You

The reserved slot at California’s crown-jewel cove dive.

6 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea / Howe Sound

Dive Guide: Whytecliff Park — Vancouver's Front-Yard Kelp Wall

Vancouver’s front-yard kelp wall, an easy shore dive.

6 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Giant kelp canopy floating at the surface of Bahía de Todos Santos below sea cliffs at Ensenada, with surf on a rocky headland and desert islands on the horizon.

Northeast Pacific / California Current

Ensenada and Bahía de Todos Santos: Kelp at the Southern Edge

giant kelp at its warm southern range edge, off Bahía de Todos Santos.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Gulf of Alaska / Inside Passage

Glacier Bay, Alaska: New Kelp Forests on the Front Lines of Retreating Ice

New kelp forests colonising the wake of retreating ice.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / BC Central Coast

Kelp Forests of the Great Bear Rainforest: A Coastal Atlas Guide

Kelp forests beneath the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.

11 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Split-level view of a giant kelp forest rising from volcanic rock below the waterline, with the bare cinder-cone slopes of a remote offshore island above.

North Pacific / California Current

Guadalupe Island: Kelp Edges of Mexico's Far-Offshore Rock

White sharks, fur seals and kelp at the southern edge.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska: A Thousand Leagues of Kelp Shore

A thousand leagues of wild kelp shore.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / BC Central Coast

Hakai Passage: Cold Green Water on British Columbia's Central Coast

Cold green water, sea otters and a living kelp laboratory.

12 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea / Howe Sound

Howe Sound: The Kelp Comeback Fjord at Vancouver's Doorstep

Vancouver’s fjord — glass sponges and recovering kelp.

11 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Kelp Forests of the Oregon Coast: Bull Kelp on the Edge

Bull kelp holding on at the upwelling edge.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Cold green water around a bull kelp bed off Kodiak Island, with rocky islets and forested mountain slopes under low grey light.

Gulf of Alaska

Kodiak: Bears Above, Kelp Below on Alaska's Emerald Coast

Bears above, kelp below on Alaska’s emerald coast.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / California Current

The Lost Coast: California's Last Wild Kelp Shore

Roadless kelp wilderness under the King Range.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / California Current margin

Magdalena Bay: Kelp at the Edge of the Mangroves

Standing on the cold–warm seam of kelp’s southern world.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / San Diego

Point Loma: San Diego's Giant Kelp Forest at the City's Edge

One of the world’s great giant kelp forests at a city’s edge.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Bering Sea

The Pribilof Islands: Kelp in the Middle of the Bering Sea

Fur seals, seabird cities and shelf-edge kelp far at sea.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Gulf of Alaska

Prince William Sound: Kelp Recovery in a Fjorded Sea

Kelp recovery in Alaska’s great fjorded sea.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea

San Juan Islands: Bull Kelp in the Salish Sea's Racing Channels

Bull kelp in the Salish Sea’s racing channels.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Gulf of Alaska / Inside Passage

Sitka Sound: Herring, Kelp and Cultures of the Inside Passage

Herring, kelp and cultures beneath Mount Edgecumbe.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

The Sonoma Coast: After the Bull Kelp

Abalone country, after the bull kelp.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea

Strait of Georgia: Kelp, Islands and Estuary Water Between Vancouver Island and the Mainland

The Salish Sea’s deep central basin between island and mainland mountains.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Split-level view of a golden bull kelp forest swaying in tidal current beneath the forested cliffs of the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Salish Sea / North Pacific

The Strait of Juan de Fuca: Bull Kelp Where Two Seas Mix

Bull kelp standing in the gateway to the Salish Sea.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Pacific Rim

Vancouver Island's Wild West Coast: Kelp, Surge and the Edge of the Shelf

Surf-beaten outer coast of glassy swells, canyons and bull kelp.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Dawn light over a remote Aleutian kelp bed: dark volcanic shore, dense floating kelp canopy on slate-blue water, lifting fog and a misted volcano beyond

Bering Sea / North Pacific

The Aleutian Islands: Where Science Learned What Otters Are For

Otters, urchins and the far-western arc of bull kelp.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / California Current

Baja California: The Southern Frontier of Giant Kelp

The warm-water southern frontier of giant kelp.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Dive Guide: Gerstle Cove and Salt Point's Bull Kelp, Sonoma Coast

Sonoma’s reserve cove — abalone country turned sanctuary.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Hecate Strait

Haida Gwaii: Kelp Forests at the Edge of the Continent

Kelp forests at the edge of the continent.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Kelp Forests of Monterey Bay: A Coastal Atlas Guide

The submarine canyon that feeds kelp, otters and whales.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

The Olympic Coast: Washington's Wilderness Kelp Frontier

Washington’s wilderness kelp below the Olympic rainforest.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Salish Sea

Vancouver Island's Wild West Coast: Kelp, Otters and the Pacific Rim

The wild west coast — swell, wolves and kelp.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Aerial view of Cook Inlet's vast grey glacial tidal flats curving toward open water, with snow-streaked mountains under soft overcast light and a faint bore-tide front on the far arm.

Gulf of Alaska

Cook Inlet, Alaska: Kelp Beds in the Land of Bore Tides

Kelp beds in the land of bore tides and glacial silt.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea

Hood Canal: The Salish Sea's Quiet Fjord of Kelp, Squid and Great Octopus

A natural fjord of octopus dens, wolf eels and breathless depths.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Point Reyes: Wind, Upwelling and Bull Kelp at the Edge of the Continent

Wind, fog and upwelling at a continental corner.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Bering Sea / North Pacific divide

The Aleutian Islands: The Wildest Kelp Frontier in the Pacific

The wildest, loneliest kelp arc on Earth.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Dive Guide: Monterey Breakwater — the Easy Kelp Forest Shore Dive

The easy kelp forest shore dive, step by step.

10 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Santa Barbara Channel

The Channel Islands: California's Kelp Forest Crown Jewels

California’s kelp forest crown jewels.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Underwater view inside a golden kelp bed in Resurrection Bay, Alaska, looking toward a sheer rock wall covered in white plumose anemones beneath sunlit green fjord water

Gulf of Alaska / Kenai Fjords

Resurrection Bay: Seward's Deep-Water Fjord of Kelp and Glaciers

A glacial fjord of kelp walls within easy reach of Anchorage.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Cook Inlet / Gulf of Alaska

Kachemak Bay: Where the Tides Race and the Kelp Runs Deep

Tide-raced Alaskan bay of bull kelp at the end of the road.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / San Pedro Channel

Kelp Forests of Catalina Island: A Coastal Atlas Guide

Clear water, garibaldi and a living kelp laboratory.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Split-level view of a bull kelp forest off Vancouver Island's foggy northwest coast: golden kelp stipes rising toward the light below, misty headlands above

North Pacific / Salish Sea

Kelp Forests of Vancouver Island: Sea Otters, Bull Kelp and First Nations Stewardship

Sea otters, bull kelp and First Nations stewardship.

11 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Point Reyes: Where Upwelling Feeds a Forest

Where the upwelling engine feeds a forest.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

A Northern California reef covered in dense purple sea urchins grazing bare rock, with a few surviving bull kelp fronds rising behind

North Pacific

Mendocino: Life on the Lost Bull Kelp Coast

Life — and loss — on California’s bull kelp frontier.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Golden afternoon light over a Point Lobos granite cove, cypress trees leaning above glassy green water and a raft of giant kelp canopy in the kelp fringe.

North Pacific / Monterey Bay

Point Lobos: The Crown Jewel of California's Marine Reserves

The crown-jewel reserve of American kelp diving.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / Sonoma coast

Bodega Head: Where Wave-Battered Rock Meets the Bull Kelp Fringe

A granitic hammerhead of bull kelp and marine-lab memory.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Salish Sea

Puget Sound: Bull Kelp in the Inland Sea

Bull kelp in the inland sea, at a city doorstep.

7 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific / San Diego coast

La Jolla Cove and the San Diego Kelp Beds: Canopy Beside the Canyons

Kelp canopy growing above the twin submarine canyons.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Santa Monica Bay / North Pacific

Malibu's Kelp Coast: Giant Kelp Beside the City

Historic Hollywood kelp beds, restored beside the city.

8 min read · The Northeast Pacific

San Pedro Channel

Diving Casino Point: A Kelp Cathedral on Catalina

A kelp cathedral in a protected underwater park.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

Gulf of California

Kelp at the Edge: The Northern Gulf of California's Warm-Water Forests

Kelp holding its warm-water edge in the Sea of Cortez.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

North Pacific

Kelp Forests of Big Sur: California's Vertical Coastline

Giant kelp clinging to California’s steepest coastline.

9 min read · The Northeast Pacific

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Where Tidewright works

Several coastlines in the atlas host Tidewright restoration programs — see the global map and the work itself.

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