Don't Count on Kelp Forests to Buffer the Coast – KneeDeep Times
“The extent to which waves are actually affected by kelp is quite limited.”
Kristen Elsmore
When winter storms sent 20-foot waves barreling towards Santa Cruz, California in January 2023, the sea met none of the natural storm breaks it might have encountered on the East Coast: no crests of intricately carved coral reefs, no tangled roots of mangrove forests, no conglomerations of millions of oyster shells. Waves from the open ocean encounter fewer obstacles...