Mono-lobo June 15, 2023

Greg Hoberg and I took his RIB from Monterey down to Carmel Bay last Thursday. On the way across Carmel Bay we were pleased to see substantial Giant Kelp on the Pinnacles, last year it was still mainly Bull Kelp. Though it was rougher than we had expected or that had been forecasted, and the swells were intermittently about 50% larger than forecasted we crossed Carmel Bay to Monolobo because its our favorite site and typically has the best visibility due to its close proximity to the Carmel Trench. As we approached the site we were disappointed to see almost no kelp on the surface. We proceeded to dive and were very sorry to see very very little kelp, maybe 1% of normal. The site is back to being urchin barrens after having recovered at least half its normal kelp coverage last year. So, what happened to the kelp? I suspect that winter storms, we had many last winter, ripped out most of the kelp and also drove the sea otters back to Monterey Bay or elsewhere for cover so they were no longer eating urchins there. There had been areas of urchin barrens next to the kelp last year so with so much kelp ripped out by storms they were desperate to find anything to eat and spread out devouring what little kelp survived the storms. Just my guess. We had average summertime visibility of around 20 ft. We saw abalone out in the open on the bare rocks desperately looking for kelp to munch but it was all devoured by the hordes of sea urchins. Below are some photos from our dive, we did see a nice mix of Vermilion, Black and Yellow, Olive, China, and Treefish Rockfish. Below: Greg with a huge Giant Kelp holdfast but no giant kelp remains on the site! Urchins everywhere.