Explainers on the physics, chemistry and biology of temperate seas — marine heatwaves, upwelling, holdfast biology, trophic cascades, eDNA.
213 articles
Both make headlines as warm water, but El Niño and marine heatwaves are different beasts. How they differ, how they interact, and what each does to kelp.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Kelp has no true roots — its holdfast is a branching biological anchor built for storms. Explore holdfast anatomy, how kelp really feeds, and its hidden biodiversity.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
A map of the kelp forest food web — from drifting fronds and grazing urchins to otters, octopus and rockfish — and why detritus powers most of it.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Why is kelp brown, not green? The answer is a pigment strategy tuned to underwater light — and it explains how kelp forests become some of Earth's most productive ecosystems.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Kelp canopies act like flexible breakwaters, dragging energy out of waves and currents. Here's the physics — and how much coastal protection forests really give.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
How marine invasive species spread: ballast water, hull fouling, aquaculture escapes and plastic rafting — the vectors, and why some coasts are vulnerable.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
MPAs, marine reserves, no-take zones explained — how protection levels differ, what the evidence shows, and what MPAs can and can't do for kelp forests.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Ocean acidification goes far beyond a falling pH number. Here's where corrosive water actually shows up, what it does to hatcheries and fisheries, and how coasts adapt.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
The ocean has absorbed about a third of our CO₂ emissions, quietly changing its chemistry. Here's the science of ocean acidification and what it means for sea life.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
The ocean stacks itself into layers by temperature and density. Here's how stratification controls nutrients, productivity — and the fate of kelp forests.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Seasonal ocean forecasts can now flag elevated marine heatwave risk months ahead — sometimes. Here's what skill exists, where it fails, and who uses it.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
A trophic cascade happens when a predator's removal rewrites an entire ecosystem. The sea otter–urchin–kelp story is ecology's classic case — here's how it works.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Kelp forests hiss, rasp and hum. Meet the shrimp, urchins and fish behind the noise — and the hydrophones turning the din into reef science.
Tom Okafor ·
From the Blob to the record-breaking 2023–24 ocean, the last decade of marine heatwave records shows extremes growing — and kelp forests in the firing line.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Marine reserve spillover explained: how protected waters export adult fish and larvae to fishing grounds, what the evidence shows and when benefits appear.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
When Pacific oyster larvae began dying in Northwest hatcheries in the mid-2000s, ocean acidification stepped out of the textbook. Here's what happened.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Kelp has no roots, yet builds the fastest-growing forests on Earth. How nitrogen, phosphorus and trace metals reach kelp blades — and how kelp recycles them back.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Phlorotannins are the brown algae's chemical shield against grazers, microbes and UV. What they are, how they work, and why the defence story is nuanced.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
How polar kelp survives months of darkness: the physiology of Arctic forests, light under sea ice, carbohydrate hoarding and the mad sprint of spring.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Marine heatwaves are weeks of anomalously hot ocean that can deforest entire coastlines. Here's the science behind them and what restoration can do.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
Why the ocean warms so slowly: heat capacity, thermal inertia and deep mixing hide enormous heat. What the ocean's long lag means for kelp forests and coasts.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·
A single kelp blade hosts algae, bryozoans, hydroids and a whole mobile fauna. Meet the epiphytes — the living deck that perches on the forest's leaves.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Kelp can't open pores for CO₂ like a land plant. Here's how brown algae concentrate carbon for Rubisco underwater — and why 'C4 kelp' is a myth.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Seawater filters sunlight within metres — reds vanish first, blues travel deepest. How underwater light sets the depth limits, seasons and colour of the world's kelp forests.
Dr. Lena Fischer ·