The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp: Explore a New and Stunning Web-Based Story that Celebrates the Kelp Forest of the North Pacific Coast
It has been a whirlwind month for Josie Iselin and Marianna Leuschel! Co-directors of the Above/Below campaign, they are celebrating the release of their beautiful new web-based book, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp. Using deep narrative writing, gorgeous photography, illustrations, and engaging design integrating life-cycle diagrams, bathymetric charts, historical kelp maps, and character icons, their website— perhaps more appropriately called a ‘webstory’—delivers holistic ecological knowledge about the bull kelp (Nereocystis leutkeana) forests of the North Pacific Coast.
As described on Josie and Marianna’s Above/Below webpage, kelp forests cover a quarter of the world’s coastlines and are critical to sustaining the biodiversity of the oceans. But these ocean forests are disappearing fast. On California’s North Coast, a staggering 95% of bull kelp forests have disappeared since 2014 due to a convergence of natural cycles and human impacts, including rising ocean temperatures. Throughout California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, a robust community has coalesced to study, protect, reforest, and restore the resilience of these marine forests, but the urgency of this issue calls for public support to grow these efforts. Above/Below has created the web-based book, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp, to address this need for broader public engagement. It provides holisitic storytelling as outreach material for the network of ecologists working to understand the kelp forest systems as well as extensive links to resources.This website can also engage the broader public directly—to appreciate the complexities of the bull kelp forest ecology and learn the history of our own human/ocean engagements that have impacted the kelp forest so profoundly. It can be thought of as a hub for bull kelp information coastwide.
Also on the Above/Below webpage, Josie and Marianna describe how they built The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp. Josie first saw the need for— and envisioned and conceptualized—a book about bull kelp in 2020 and outlined the basic structure that was eventually developed for navigating the webstory. Marianna’s partnership with Josie brought her expertise in communications design, project management, and editorial direction to the project. Civ Chung and Chad Upham – web designer and web developer – rounded out the fabulous creative team. Following a years-long collaboration with the bull kelp community on this western edge of North America, the webstory was ready for public release in early November 2023.
The character and regional stories featured on the webstory were built from interviews and conversations with the network of marine scientists Josie has come to admire so much. Grad and PhD students to emeritus elders shared their expertise. In addition, countless scientific papers and reports were read; conferences were attended; and presentations were watched. All in all, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp represents a true collaborative team effort, and reflects the passion and dedication of the community of kelp enthusiasts on the North Pacific coast. Josie and Marianna both are quick to thank everyone who gave so generously of their time and insights, including their funders and the amazing group of photographers who are dedicated to donning gear and diving into the frigid waters of the North Pacific to capture the magic and majesty, as well as the degradation, of these ocean forests. The photos throughout the website of kelp and other species that depend upon healthy kelp forests for their own survival truly make the stories come alive!
What’s next for Josie and Marianna? Both have been busy attending events and making presentations to spread the word about The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp. The reception at both the California Seaweed Festival in San Diego and the Western Society of Naturalists in Monterey was spectacular. They ask that others share this link with their professional network and local communities as well. All feedback is welcome!
Ultimately, they hope their webstory will be used as an engaging and effective tool for research, restoration, and scientific outreach or communication strategies, to build ocean literacy. And they would love to collaborate with as many educators as possible to get this material into classrooms. Their plan is to continue to expand the resources and information, features and functionality of this webstory in future editions published annually.
Josie and Marianna welcome new partnerships and collaborators in the implementation of other campaign initiatives as well. Their goal over the coming years through their Above/Below campaign is to continue to combine art and science through creative storytelling strategies to help educate a broad audience about the importance of kelp forests and other ocean wonders; to inspire engagement in local community action; and to foster a culture of ocean literacy and stewardship over the long term.
As for you, if you’re exploring the book for the first time, you’re in for a treat! Josie and Marianna have some tips: ‘You might want to start with Kelp as Kin or navigate by the kelp forest community of characters, or travel to eight regions where the drama of the bull kelp forest plays out in unique ways’. You will no doubt learn new things and appreciate bull kelp as the extraordinary organism that it is!
bullkelp.info
By Romney McPhie
