Ambassadors of the Environment

AMBASSADORS OF THE
ENVIRONMENT
BACARA, SANTA BARBARA

Everybody loves the beach!
Santa Barbara’s coastline
is full of discoveries.

The rocky shore is full of beauty and mystery.

Waters offshore are home to
over 20 species of marine mammals.

Along our coast it is a beautiful forest.
But there are no trees!
Instead it is a forest of algae called kelp.
It’s a solar powered community

Floats lift kelp fronds up to the sun.

The “holdfast”
anchors kelp to the
bottom and provides
a home to thousands
of animals

The kelp snail dines on kelp, converting the
energy of kelp into the energy of the snail.

The next link in the
food chain is the
octopus that eats kelp
snails.

This kelp bass will eat any
octopus it can find.

Sea cucumbers are the waste
managers of the kelp forest.
Waste and remains of all these
animals are digested and
recycled by sea cucumbers.

What comes out of
a sea cucumber is
cleaner than what
went in!

Ambassadors of the Environment

Each resident of
the kelp bed
ecosystem has a
job. Collectively
this diversity of
species and the
work they do
ensures the
community will stay
healthy.

Lobsters are scavengers that clean up the
bottom, similar to sea cucumbers. Such
overlapping function is called ecological
redundancy and is security in case one species
disappears. Its good to have a spare.

Even species we don’t
eat or sell have value.
They enrich the
oceans, the planet and
our lives.

Species benefit from a variety of ecological
connections. This orange senorita fish is a cleaner
that takes parasites from the blue blacksmith fish.

The “doctor” keeps its “patients” healthy in a
mututalistic relationship where both partners benefit.
Here the patients stand on their heads to let the
doctor know they need “medical” attention.

The kelp bed is an
example of a
sustainable
community.
It runs on renewable
solar energy.
Everything is recycled.
Diversity of residents
gets important work
done.
Everything is connected.

The kelp bed has important lessons for us
who want to live environmentally
responsible lives.

Ambassadors of the Environment

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Editor's Notes