Diving on the Kelp Forest

Diving in Southern California means diving in giant kelp--Macrocystis pyrifera.  The thick giant kelp forests that fringe the coastline and islands form a very complex and unique ecosystem.  The analogy of the forest is very applicable.  The canopy of the kelp forest, like that of the rainfotest, seems nearly impenetrable.  Boaters and divers use terms like "tangled up" and "ensnared" when describing encounters with the kelp canopy.  When I sailed on Max Lynn’s Windhover during Wet Wednesday races one of my jobs on the foredeck to keep a sharp lookout for kelp mats along the course, lest we run through one and lose as it wrapped around the keel with a speed-killing drag that would allow the rest of the boats to pass us followed by the merciless teasing at the Yatch Club bar afterward. 

Many a new diver and some old ones, fear getting fatally entangled in kelp; feeling like they may become trapped in a spider’s web of stalks.  More than a few non-divers, including an optometrist I had fit lenses into a dive mask, regaled me with tales of friend who had friends who had friends who drown after becoming caught in kelp.  It had to be, why would fiends three times removed say otherwise?  I suspect that this irrational fear is not borne from experience; rather it grows from their general fear of the ocean particularized to these giant algae.  But it can be that deadly, cute seo otters wrap themselves in it to stay afloat and rest. 

I learned early on when doing a shore dive to descend on the edge of the kelp, which anchors to the hard rock substrate on the bottom.  The kelp marked the rock reef, the location we wanted to dive.  I also learned to terminate the dive with enough air to swim between the stalks of kelp rather than crawl across the top.  The few times I have done the kelp crawl on the surface it seems that I was in the thickest kelp along the coast of Isla Vista.  The kelp at that location seemed to entrain the oil from the natural seeps as nearby Coal Oil Point.  I frolicked through a couple of dozen of a thick kelp stew seasoned with hydrocarbon at that location to get back to the beach.  After that, I never neglected to be on the outside of that kelp bed with plenty of air to get back.

Perhaps the best description of dealing with kelp came in the Simmer 2012 edition of Alert Diver:

“The concern we hear most often from novice kelp divers is fear of entanglement…. Avoiding entanglement requires attention during the dive and some forethought; streamlined gear and at least one cutting tool are important. Paying close attention to your air supply and the location of the boat will ensure you are not forced to maneuver back to the boat on the surface using the dreaded "kelp crawl." Also crucial is remaining calm should you become caught. In other words, avoid becoming the fork in the kelp spaghetti that spins around repeatedly to determine the source of entanglement.”