Cezanne
Devika
Katharine
Last Updated:
November 4, 2005
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This map shows kelp forests of 1980, 1989, and our own 2005. This map shows regular sea surface temperature and our project includes typical El Nino temperature.
CELP Camp
Kelp Forest
Garbaldi
Our group at work.
The Catalina Island experience not only brought unity to our eight-grade class but also allowed us to be in an environment of learning and discovery. The trip was fun, educational, and very enlightening. The Catalina Environmental Leadership Program or (CELP) taught us students important values in life. We kayaked, snorkeled, hiked, composted, played games, and climbed rope courses. The program was honed around the four principles that made us think about the importance of a clean environment. The principles were, “Everything is connected, there is no waste in nature, biodiversity is good, and everything runs on Energy.” Using the four themes of the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program as our guide, we conducted our own field research at Catalina Island’s Emerald Bay and Howland’s Landing kelp forests.
Our framing question is “What is the effect of the ocean temperature
on the size of the kelp forest.” This question looks at many possibilities
for the future of the world. We did not want to only look at the effects
of El Nino on the kelp Forest but at the conditions that are favorable
and unfavorable
to the kelp forest in general. What will happen in a situation of global
warming or an ice age?
Data collection is important for analysis and information. We collected
our data by designing and conducting surveys of the plants and animal
life modeled
after
the techniques used by the Channel Island National Park divers. We took
short movies and photographs, and made sketches and recorded our observations
in
our logbooks. The data we are specifically using came from the information
collected
from the kayak trips to Emerald Bay and around Howland’s landing.
During the kayak trips we observed the relationship between kelp plants
and water
depth, took GPS waypoints to outline the kelp canopy, and measured the
sea surface temperature.
We used the data from our Catalina experience as well as data on the
GIS program. We have taken layers, and information from many projects
and added
them to
our own. Our goal is to create a better picture of the Channel Islands
kelp forest.
Our goal was to determine the influence of ocean temperature on
the size of the kelp forests. We compared the kelp forest
size for the years of 1980
and 1989.
The 1980 kelp forest is significantly larger than the 1989 kelp forest.
This is a result of the 1983 El Nino. We have thus concluded
that the increase
of temperatures
brought on by El Nino has a negative impact on the size of the kelp
forest. .
We have concluded that
cooler
water results in a larger kelp forest.
In every project there are difficulties and uncertainties. Collecting
the data was in itself difficult. It was challenging to kayak,
take pictures,
collect
waypoints and make observations all at the same time. We have also
tried to limit our observations to the Channel Island kelp forests.
Collecting
data using GIS is a whole project within itself. We have had to
learn the software
and really understand it to get what we want out of it for the
success of our project. Some uncertainties that we have had are
the accuracy
of our
conclusions.
It is hard to compare sea surface temperature for it changes frequently
and there are many changes throughout the year. We would like to
have the sea surface temperatures in a continuous fluctuation of
years. We were unable to get the exact sea surface temperature
around Catalina and were are showing the general picture. We hop
in the future to get the exact maps of sea surface temperature.To
build on this project in the future we would like to add an animal
life aspect.
There is a
possibility that there are great ocean temperature conditions for
the kelp forests but the sea urchin population is high so the kelp
forest size is
low. There
are many
aspects and
sides of anything in science. Discovery never ends.
El Nino is directly related to our subject and topic of interest.
El Nino has a dramatic effect on the increase of ocean temperatures.
We
have concluded
that
during an El Nino year the kelp forest size will decrease due to
the fact that it prefers cooler water. We are interested in just
how dramatic
the
effect is
on the kelp forest. In the future we hope to add data files and
have a continuous fluctuation of years. We want there to
be no gaps in
our project. We hope
to work on this project throughout the year and add to it as we
learn more about
he world and our environment. We understand that this project is
just the beginning for a search for the understanding of the kelp
forest.
We hope
to contribute.
