Green Options

When I was doing research on Catalina Island, there was a wanted poster hanging in the dive locker. Although, this wanted poster was not for any bank robber or bandit. This was a wanted poster for kelp. Undaria pinnatifida, an invasive species from Asia that has hitched a ride on boat’s hulls and ballast water. Also known as wakame, you may know that name as an ingredient in many Asian dishes or miso soup.

Wakame has become a large problem from New Zealand to Monterey Bay. It is an aggressive and costly intruder that takes over a habitat at the expensive of the native species. Since its discovery in San Francisco Bay, 140 lbs of the kelp have been removed from the San Francisco Marina alone. Wakame’s destructive nature has earned it a spot on the 100 of the Worlds Worst Invasive Species list.

Scuba divers with the Ocean Protection Alliance have removed nearly all of an enormous “ghost net” off the coast of Southern California. The net had been killing sea lions, dolphins, sharks, and fish since a trawler sunk in 2006, as evidenced by the bones and carcasses on the ocean floor.

“Once you start cutting, visibility drops from 30 feet to zero because the water clouds up with particles and tiny creatures that get shaken loose,” said Cinde MacGugan, who led a team of divers to remove 200-sq-ft of netting. “At one point, I was frantically cutting off pieces of netting when one or more was tugged upward by an air bag.”