Kelp, Urchins, & the Right to Restore

Not long ago, California’s nearshore waters were dense with towering kelp forests—alive with rockfish, abalone, sea otters, and the steady hum of a functioning ecosystem. For many, that ocean felt normal. Stable. Abundant.

And then, quietly and quickly, it wasn’t.

On April 23, Ocean Hoptimism is welcoming Keith Rootsaert—diver, community scientist, and restoration leader—who has witnessed that shift firsthand. After first diving in the 1980s, Keith returned decades later to find an ocean transformed: kelp forests thinned, fish smaller and fewer, and vast stretches of reef overtaken by urchins.

Instead of turning away, he leaned in.

Keith began working with Reef Check California, helping count fish, invertebrates, and algae—and training volunteer divers to do the same. When the system tipped in 2017 and urchin barrens became the new normal, he launched the Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project, mobilizing a growing network of trained divers to actively restore kelp ecosystems along the coast.

At April’s Ocean Hoptimism, Keith will take us beneath the surface of Tanker’s Reef in Monterey—into the realities of kelp restoration, the challenges of working within marine protected areas (MPAs), and the surprising friction between grassroots action and regulatory systems meant to protect these very places.

Just two days before this event, a pivotal decision will be made. A petition to allow trained divers to restore kelp in five MPAs will be considered by the California Fish and Game Commission. The outcome—still unknown—will shape what comes next.

This conversation will meet that moment in real time.

With over 300 certified restoration divers ready to act, this is a story about more than kelp. It’s about who gets to participate in restoration. About when protection becomes paralysis. And about what it looks like when a community decides not just to witness change—but to intervene.

This is a story about returning to a place you love and refusing to accept its decline. About rebuilding not just ecosystems, but agency. And about how restoration—messy, local, and hands-on—can become one of the most powerful forms of conservation we have.

“We have the power to make the ocean better for fish and for ourselves."           —Keith Rootsaert

Join us Thursday, April 23, 7–8pm at Faction Brewing for an evening of ocean storytelling, community science, and frontline restoration—grounded in California, but echoing far beyond it.

Bring friends. Bring questions. Bring your curiosity about what it means to not just care about the ocean—but to actively help heal it.

The ocean we remember is still possible. The question is what we’re willing to do to bring it back.

“By registering for this event, you agree to share your registration information with the organizers of SF Climate Week.”