Deforestation isn’t just happening on land.
A new study from UC Santa Cruz suggests that the kelp forest along the Sonoma and Mendocino Coasts has declined by 95 percent since 2013. The study points two main causes: the explosion in the population of purple Sea Urchin, which eats the kelp, and two warm water events from 2014 to 2016. Researchers say that the kelp forest will not likely recover soon, partly because of the purple sea urchin and the difficulty in removing them. It also doesn’t help that the purple sea urchin’s primary predator, the sunflower sea star, has been hit hard by a wasting disease.