Seeking giant kelp forest footage from southern Australia

[drbill]

I am working on an educational video series on kelp forest ecology targeted for the SoCal regional cable market. This series focuses on the communities that live in the giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forests of our waters.

For one of the episodes, I want to use comparison footage from other regions which have M. pyrifera forests including southern Africa, southern Australia and South America. My budget is insufficient at this time to allow the extended travel necessary to gather sufficient footage from each of these regions.

I'm looking for competent videographers in these areas who may already have compiled footage from their kelp forests that depict the common species and ecological interactions found there. I'm willing to offer trade-outs on footage from SoCal to those videographers willing to help, and any footage used would be credited.

My primary interest in doing this is to advance knowledge about kelp forests for the general public in the hopes of furthering conservation of them. I look forward to hearing from others willing to consider this proposal.

 

[almitywife]

g'day Dr Bill

hmmm - talking aboot tassie im guessing (brrrrrrr)... can i suggest a post in the photography section on www.diveoz.com.au

i know we have one or 2 aussies down there so maybe someone more local can help you out and if you start a thread i will put a good word in for you so they know youre a nice guy

cheers & good luck

 

[alijtaylor]

Does it have to be Aussie?

There are some great kelp forests in southern New Zealand (even more brrrr than Tasmania!). And I reember recent reporting of a study of the underwater ecology of that area which in summary said it was amazing - I assume there is video footage but can't remember enough detail. But if you open to other venues I could try to find out.

Alison

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

Hi there Dr Bill -

Contact Gary, Karen and Mick at the Eaglehawk Dive Centre, explaining who you are, what you need and that you will credit their footage. If they don’t have the footage you're after they will probably know someone who does.

They have some of the best kelp in Tassie on their doorstep. The Tassie forests have decreased in size over the last 15 years (attributed to warmer currents arriving from the north) and they would probably be interested in hearing about the health and compariable ecology of SoCal forests.

NZ also has some great kulp furusts (which I believe are similar to our kelp forests) but I'm not sure who to contact...

I also second trying the diveoz forum.

Cheers,
Rohan.

 

[drbill]

...i will put a good word in for you so they know youre a nice guy

Where in the world did you hear that nonsense?

Seriously, thanks to all for the suggestions. I will follow through after I finish the project I'm working on now.

Really do want to dive these regions myself as well. May just have to trying writing a grant to fund the trip(s).

Sorry to hear about the impacts on kelp down there. We had such warm water here last summer that almost all the kelp got wiped out (except at the coldest water sites). Temps were as high as 66 F down at 150 ft so even the holdfasts in deeper water were getting hammered.

I think the loss of giant kelp canopy may be one reason why we are seeing the rapid spread of an exotic (Japan, Korea) alga, Sargassum filicinum, here.