Courtney Schatzman1, Nick Nidzieko2, Katie Munster3, William Klingbeil4, Eliza Harrison5, Javier Infante6
1,3,4,5,6 Ocean Rainforest, Inc. Santa Barbara, Ca, 1117 State St. Santa Barbara, CA United States.
2 University California Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 United States
Ocean Rainforest is an established international seaweed cultivation company that has successfully cultivated Macrocystis pyrifera for the first time in the Southern California Bight off the coast of Santa Barbara. Our first year of growth experiments began early in March of 2022 and have continued through to the first half of 2024. There have been many challenges to establishing consistent growth yield and by extension documenting growth curves. Some of those challenges center around the timing of outplanting, as well as maintaining healthy stock. These challenges have led to a better understanding of how to successfully cultivate Giant kelp in this region. We have and continue to focus on numerous experiments that lead to better understanding of yield drivers which also lead more efficient cultivation methods.
Additionally, our cultivation facility has participated in numerous partnered experiment that work towards better engineering designs centered around understanding kelp drag and infrastructure loads. Furthermore, we have participated in the establishment of better growth models as well as the development of technical tools that will better aid in the monitoring or observation of growth development. These observational tools include the use of side scan sonar for remote or hands-free infrastructure and biomass monitoring.