Atlas8 min read
The Kuril Islands: Kelp Forests on the Pacific's Fiercest Arc
Volcanoes, fog and the cold Oyashio — a guide to the kelp forests of the Kuril Islands, among the least-disturbed seaweed coasts left on Earth.
Tom Okafor ·
Coastal Atlas
Guides to the world’s kelp coastlines — the Great Southern Reef, Monterey Bay, Hokkaido, Norway, Patagonia — their ecology, seasons and stories.
257 articles · Browse the Coastal Atlas map →
Atlas10 min read
The Leeuwin Capes: Kelp at the Edge of the Tropics
Where a warm current runs the wrong way, kelp forests hold the tropical edge — the Margaret River capes, their wildlife and the heatwave that changed them.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Atlas8 min read
The Lost Coast: California's Last Wild Kelp Shore
Where Highway 1 quits and the King Range rises from the surf, California's Lost Coast keeps its secrets — black sand, bull kelp and a hard-won wilderness.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas11 min read
Lüderitz, Namibia: Benguela Kelp on a Desert Coast
Off Namibia's windswept diamond coast, the Lüderitz upwelling cell brews some of the coldest, richest water in the Benguela — and a desert-shore kelp forest.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Atlas10 min read
Lundy Island: England's Original Marine Reserve and Its Kelp
Granite, grey seals and kelp jungle in the Bristol Channel — England's first marine reserve, first no-take zone and some of Britain's best diving.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas11 min read
Macquarie Island: Giant Kelp on the World's Most Remote Threatened Listing
Macquarie Island's giant kelp forests became the first marine ecosystem listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List — a subantarctic warning in full view.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Atlas9 min read
The Magdalen Islands: Kelp and Red Sandstone in the Gulf of St Lawrence
A low archipelago of red cliffs and dunes in the warming Gulf of St Lawrence, fringed with kelp and eelgrass and ringed by some of Canada's most dynamic coastal water.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Atlas9 min read
Magdalena Bay: Kelp at the Edge of the Mangroves
Where the California Current's kelp fringe meets Baja's mangrove lagoons — a meeting of two worlds, winter whales and the southern frontier of giant kelp.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas7 min read
Maine's Acadia Coast: Kelp Where the Mountains Meet the Gulf
Mount Desert Island's granite meets the cold Gulf of Maine — rockweed shores, subtidal kelp ledges and the science of a warming coast around Acadia.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Atlas9 min read
Marion Island: Kelp, Mice and Albatross in the Roaring Forties
A volcanic subantarctic outpost ringed by giant kelp, albatross skies and elephant-seal beaches — and the mice that threatened it all. An atlas guide.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
The Marlborough Sounds: Kelp in the Drowned Valleys
New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds are drowned river valleys where kelp beds, mussel farms, dolphins and a famous shipwreck share startlingly calm water.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Montague Island (Barunguba): Seals, Seabirds and Kelp off the NSW South Coast
A region guide to Montague Island — Australia's fur seal snorkel capital, little penguin colonies, kelp-fringed granite and how to visit Barunguba from Narooma.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
Northumberland: Kelp, Castles and the Farne Islands
Sandstone headlands, dolerite islands and big North Sea tides — England's northeast coast grows fine kelp forests beneath some of its oldest castles.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas12 min read
Nova Scotia: Kelp Beds of the North Atlantic
A guide to Nova Scotia's kelp beds of the North Atlantic — the species, the urchin wars, the invaders, the warming, and where to see kelp today.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas12 min read
The Otago Peninsula: Royal Albatross Above, Bull Kelp Below
The Otago Peninsula stacks a mainland albatross colony, sea lions and penguins above forests of giant kelp and rimurapa. A guide to New Zealand's wildlife headland.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
Kelp Forests of the Outer Hebrides: Scotland's Atlantic Frontier
The Outer Hebrides hold Britain's oceanic kelp frontier — Laminaria forests in gin-clear Atlantic water, shell-sand lagoons and seabird citadels.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Phillip Island: Kelp Beds Below the Penguin Parade
Under the Bass Strait swell off Victoria's Phillip Island, golden kelp reefs feed seals, whales and the little penguins of Australia's most famous wildlife show.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Point Loma: San Diego's Giant Kelp Forest at the City's Edge
The Point Loma kelp forest off San Diego is one of the largest and most-studied giant kelp beds on Earth — a story of pollution, recovery and scientific devotion.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas9 min read
The Poor Knights Islands: Kelp at the Subtropical Boundary
Off New Zealand's Tutukaka Coast, the Poor Knights Islands protect the clearest, warmest kelp forests in the country — and fish that belong to a warmer sea entirely.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas9 min read
Portland to Discovery Bay: Windblown Kelp of Western Victoria
Western Victoria's Portland coast mixes Australia’s only mainland gannet colony, summer blue whales and golden kelp beds fed by the Bonney upwelling.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
The Pribilof Islands: Kelp in the Middle of the Bering Sea
Four volcanic islands on the Bering Sea shelf — half the world's northern fur seals, millions of seabirds, sea ice to the doorstep, and kelp along the rims.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Atlas8 min read
Prince William Sound: Kelp Recovery in a Fjorded Sea
Glacial fjords, returning sea otters and slow kelp regrowth after oil and ice loss — a field guide to Prince William Sound, Alaska's living laboratory.
Tom Okafor ·
Atlas8 min read
Rhode Island: Kelp on the Southern Edge of New England
Rhode Island's kelp beds were already at their warm limit when the water started heating. What remains — and what was lost — is a preview of New England's future.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Atlas8 min read
Sado Island: Kelp, Tub Boats and the Gold-Mining Coast
Sado Island in the Sea of Japan pairs warm-temperate kelp reefs with centuries of tub-boat fishing, rice-terraced hills and a storied gold-mining past.
Tom Okafor ·