A new study will get a bit of kelp from Jefferson County.
The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners approved a $24,800 agreement Monday with the Seattle Aquarium that will use …
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A new study will get a bit of kelp from Jefferson County.
The Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners approved a $24,800 agreement Monday with the Seattle Aquarium that will use remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and AI (artificial intelligence) to develop ways to monitor kelp forests.
According to the agreement, the project hopes to find ways to get high-resolution video of kelp forests along the outer coast of Washington, at depths of 5 to 40 meters.
Such kelp forests are expected to be populated by urchin barrens, understory algae, and canopy-forming beds of Bull (Nerocystis luetkeana) and Giant (Macrocystis pyrifera) kelp.
The project with the Seattle Aquarium is an expected first step in a long-term subtidal monitoring program that will partner with Neah Bay High School and the Quileute Tribal School to create kelp-forest lectures and ROV-based field trips “so that students can experience the seafloor right outside their classrooms,” according to the agreement.
Additional funding for the work will come from a grant from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The survey research will be done through June 15, 2023.
