Explore7 min read
Birdwatching the Kelp Coast: A Landlubber's Guide to Seabirds
You don't need fins to love a kelp forest. Here's how to read the seabirds that work its surface — murres, puffins, cormorants and gulls, all season long.
Tom Okafor ·
#kelp-coast
10 articles
Encyclopedia7 min read
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus): The Painted Diver of the Kelp Surf Zone
Meet the harlequin duck: slate-blue plumage, winter life in the surf zone, and summers on wild mountain rivers. Identification, ecology and where to look.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata): The Horn-Billed Seabird of Kelp-Coast Colonies
The rhinoceros auklet: the puffin's burrowing cousin with a bill 'horn', night-time colony returns, and fish-laden commutes over kelp-rich shelf water.
Tom Okafor ·
Explore10 min read
Cold-Water Sea Kayaking: Safety Rules for Paddling Kelp Coasts
Kelp coasts are world-class paddling and unforgiving water. Dress-for-immersion rules, self-rescue skills, weather reading and float plans for cold-water kayakers.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Common Eider (Somateria mollissima): The Sea Duck of Northern Kelp Coasts
Meet the common eider: the northern sea duck that dives for mussels in the kelp shallows, crushes shells whole and gave its down to a centuries-old harvest.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia7 min read
Kelp Snailfish (Liparis mucosus): The Soft-Bodied Clinger of the Holdfasts
Soft as jelly, clinging like a limpet: the kelp snailfish lives where the forest meets the rock. Identification, ecology and where to look for one.
Dr. Theo Nakamura ·
Explore9 min read
Kayak Camping on Kelp Coasts: A Multi-Day Guide
How to plan a multi-day sea kayak trip along a kelp coastline — route shape, tide and swell strategy, landing through kelp beds, and camping with a light footprint.
Tom Okafor ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Pigeon Guillemot: The Red-Footed Diver of the Kelp Coast
Meet the pigeon guillemot: the black-and-white auk with scarlet feet that nests in shoreline crevices and hunts sculpins through kelp beds.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Encyclopedia8 min read
Tufted Puffin: The Kelp Coast's Most Photogenic Fisher
Meet the tufted puffin: golden head-plumes, burrow colonies and deep kelp-coast dives. Where to see it, what it eats, and why its southern range is shrinking.
Dr. Mara Ellison ·
Explore7 min read
Snorkelling in Swell: Technique for Moving Water
How to snorkel well when the water is moving — reading swell and surge, timing your entries, breathing through slosh, and knowing when to walk away.
Tom Okafor ·