A Woodstock for kelp

A new environmental festival will celebrate the restoration of giant kelp forests in Laguna Beach after 25 years of extinction.

The Get Inspired organization and local Boys & Girls Club will host Kelp Fest 2010 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Main Beach, to celebrate the restoration efforts of thousands of volunteers and foster appreciation for kelp in the community, said marine biologist and Get Inspired founder Nancy Caruso.

“Kelp is the basis of our ecosystem and is home to more than 800 species of animals in our oceans,� she said. “It’s also commercially important because we hunt for fish that live in kelp, and algin (a gelatinous extract) is also used in many consumer products.

“Our purpose is to educate people about why kelp is so important and what they can do to save it.�

The free event will include an array of fun activities including a walk-through 3-D giant kelp forest exhibit, live underwater presentation by divers delivered to audiences on the beach via camera and musical performances by members of the Boys & Girls Club, and Birdsong and the EcoWonders.

“We’ll also have a storytelling circle of divers from the 1950s and ’60s who will tell us what Laguna’s oceans used to be like,� Caruso said. “They know more about what was underwater at that time than even science does.�

Caruso began restoring north Orange County’s kelp forests eight years ago with the help of environmental organizations and grant funding, before establishing her own nonprofit last summer.

Years of over-fishing and run-off resulting in polluted, murky water made for unfavorable conditions, she said. The El Niño storms of 1983 were the last straw, tearing kelp from the reefs and covering them in sand and warm water, lacking in nutrients and sunshine that are essential for growth.

Under her Giant Kelp Restoration Project, she and volunteers restored five acres of kelp forest in Crystal Cove, Heisler Park and Crescent Bay, which continue to flourish and spread, she said.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done at Crescent Bay, but low funds have left me without a boat, which prevents us from relocating sea urchins and planting new kelp,� she said.

She goes on to explain that sea urchins, which feed off the kelp, are a major source of destruction and must be relocated so new kelp can grown and reproduce.

Thurston Middle School recently became the first school in Laguna to join Caruso’s efforts, by establishing a Kelp Club that grows kelp in the classroom. Caruso said she hopes to plant the kelp in June.

The Girl Scouts will also contribute to the cause by selling “fish cookies� at the festival, from which the proceeds will benefit the kelp project.

Caruso said she hopes this “Woodstock of kelp� will become an annual event in Laguna.

Get Inspired’s mission is to foster passion and purpose through the discovery of arts and sciences. For more information, call (714) 206-5147 or visit www.getinspiredinc.org. For more details on the festival, visit www.kelpfest.org.

If You Go

What: KelpFest

Where: Main Beach, Laguna Beach

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Free

Highlights: 3-D kelp forest exhibit, live underwater presentation, music and more

Information: www.kelpfest.org