Tomorrow, California decides whether trained divers can remove urchins in select MPAs—giving kelp forests a fighting chance.
Two days later, April 23, join Ocean Hoptimism for the full story, stakes, and what comes next beneath the surface.
us16.campaign-archive.com?e=45d6860dba...
Raja Ampat—one of Earth’s most biodiverse marine regions—faces growing pressure from nickel mining & tourism. Conservation gains (like rising fish biomass) are at risk as deforestation and sediment threaten reefs, highlighting a clash between economic demand and protecting irreplaceable ecosystems.
Deep Water: plane crash survivors discover the shocking twist that the ocean contains sharks. Cue floatation devices as plot devices, heroic panic, and fish cast as villains. “Shark-infested waters” doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Watched this on loop 15 times and counting. Yes, incredible biology and questions galore—but also pure perfection. Sleepy seals just… bonk… sinking like chubby little sacks of lead shot. Science 🤝 slapstick. Cannot. Stop. Watching. #OceanHoptimism #SinkingSeals 🦭
Deep respect for the community + Indigenous leadership driving this work—this is what ocean care looks like. But with >95% of North Coast kelp gone, small-bag foraging (30/day) won’t bend the curve. We need solutions at ecological scale to get kelp unstuck.
#OceanHoptimism #KelpRecovery
Kelp, Urchins, & the Right to Restore
w Keith Rootsaert, Founder
Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project
Thursday, April 23
7-8pm @ Faction Brewing, Alameda
FREE & Open to All
luma.com/n1h07vzk
Dive into California’s kelp crisis: forests pushed into urchin barren collapse. The Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project shows how action can get kelp “unstuck” and bring life back. 🌊 Will CA allow trained divers to help? Find out April 23 at Ocean Hoptimism.
www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date
Climate politics hits a wall: the honest message that Dems likely realize is that big changes to how we live are coming, no matter what. That’s a hard sell to a public that doesn’t want to hear it. So Dem leaders hedge. But the real choice isn’t comfort—it’s how much damage we’re willing to limit.
Start your weekend off right: support groups helping the people of the Northern Mariana Islands recover from Typhoon Sinlaku.
An opportunity to turn your concern into action—and stand with communities rebuilding after the storm.
We’re proud to be a featured event for SF Climate Week 2026.
Join Ocean Hoptimism on April 23 as we welcome the Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project and dig into kelp, urchins, and the future of restoration in California—science, tension, and what comes next.
Details + RSVP: luma.com/n1h07vzk
In a week where it didn’t feel certain, community voices showed up—and were heard. Pride flags stay.
A reminder that inclusion isn’t décor—it’s belonging. And that diverse identities, voices, and ways of knowing still shape the spaces we share. 🌈 🏳️🌈
Concrete gets blamed, but cement is the real culprit—~8% of global emissions. Cement is the binder inside concrete. New mixes add seaweed to reduce cement use and lock carbon in as it cures—turning concrete from emitter to potential carbon sink.
Hopeful news for your #PhycologyFriday
Two visions collide:
Leave nature alone—or step in to fix what we broke.
With kelp forests stuck in urchin barrens, doing nothing is a choice too.
Join us next week as Ocean Hoptimism unpacks the science, stakes, and what comes next.
Save the Date: www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date
Here’s a moment of zen: gliding through a Monterey kelp forest. But many are stuck in an urchin barren spiral. Local divers are trained and ready to help them recover. Will California let them? Find out what’s at stake April 23 at Ocean Hoptimism.
Full details: www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date
Today is #BullKelpDay, which provides an opportunity to showcase the importance of this threatened oceanic species — and what people can do to help — as warming oceans and a wasting disease throw ecosystems out of whack. https://therevelator.org/save-this-species-bull-kelp/
Alright buddy—hang a left at 48th & Irving, head south to Noriega, about 0.7 miles. If you hit the ocean again, you’ve gone too far.
You should arrive at Devil’s Teeth Baking Company where you can order SF’s best breakfast sandwich.
Tell them Ocean Hoptimism sent you.
7 days. A major state decision. And a conversation you won’t hear anywhere else. Ocean Hoptimism returns April 23 with Keith Rootsaert to break down the future of kelp restoration in California—science, management, tension, and what comes next.
www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date
Check out this recording from the update:
youtu.be/WRfOlip8aNM
Hard enough finding open space in Oakland—and just when our courtyard agave decides on its once-in-a-lifetime bloom, sending up that towering final stalk, some dick cuts it down. A last hurrah, gone. Urban nature doesn’t get many moments. Let them happen.
Next week at Ocean Hoptimism: Keith Rootsaert of the Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project breaks down a bold plan to “kelpmaxx” the California coast. Urchins, MPAs, intervention—what it takes to help get kelp forests unstuck.
Join us April 23:
www.oceanhoptimism.org/save-the-date
“Culturally, we have a tendency to flatten the ocean. To reduce it to a resource. A route. A problem to be managed. Pirate stories, almost accidentally, resist that flattening. They re-enchant the sea. They remind us that the ocean is not just a place we use—it is a place that changes us.”
#Pirates
The same motivations that drove deepwater oil drilling—and led to Deepwater Horizon—are back, now aimed at seafloor minerals. Different industry, same promise: trust us, even where oversight fails. If oversight failed then, what’s changed at even greater depths?
On a call yesterday with state, NGO, and community scientists sharing a winter update from Caspar Cove, CA: purple urchin harvesting is working. Urchins down, kelp canopy rebounding vs. control sites. Clear evidence that targeted intervention can help get kelp forests unstuck.
#OceanHoptimism #Kelp
"“I know what you are.”
Except… the ocean has a way of revealing that certainty is often just a placeholder.
Because this animal has lived a double life inside human language..."
@oceanhoptimism.org | @therevelator.org
One week from today, CA decides whether to allow urchin culling in MPAs—a ruling that could shape the future of kelp restoration statewide. It’s a critical moment. Join Ocean Hoptimism on April 23 to hear what the decision means, directly from Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project’s Keith Rootsaert.
In his analysis, @drandrewthaler.bsky.social traces a shift in his own thinking—from cautious openness to firm opposition. The deeper he looked, the clearer it became: we cannot move forward with deep-sea mining without risking irreversible harm to a wilderness we barely understand.
A must read: 👇
Here are three places you can donate to help with Super Typhoon Sinlaku recovery
www.angelovillagomez.com/2026/04/supe...
Jack Sparrow. Stede Bonnet. Monkey D. Luffy. Not your history book pirates—but maybe the ones we need right now.
Different Flags, Same Horizon.
A new blog post on why pirate stories endure—and what they quietly reveal about the ocean at their center.
Read more: 👇
#Pirates #OFMD #OnePiece #POTC
Super Typhoon Sinlaku has struck Saipan, a U.S. Pacific territory, leaving a small, isolated island facing severe damage, outages, and flooding. With limited infrastructure to absorb a hit like this, recovery will be difficult—Saipan needs attention, support, and help now.
Please help if you can.
