Season of Creation – Golden Kelp Restoration by Christina Rowntree
Good News Stories in Season of Creation 2
Golden Kelp restoration in Port Phillip Bay
During Sacrededge Festival at Queenscliff this year, we heard a good news story told by Dr Prue Francis from the Marine Science Centre, Queenscliff, about their work promoting ocean literacy and replanting Golden Kelp (Ecklonia radiata) in Port Phillip Bay and the Great Southern Reef.
Climate change has created conditions which cause an indigenous sea urchin to thrive in warmer waters. In Port Phillip Bay, kelp and other seaweeds are under siege from these sea urchins due to an imbalance in the aquatic food system, creating Golden Kelp barrens which impacts the whole ecosystem of the bay.
Prue told an inspiring story of how she and her research partners have developed a range of initiatives to support the marine ecosystem, including population genetics, establishing a kelp seedbank, and conducting kelp restoration along the Victorian coastline. Partnering with The Nature Conservancy, and Parks Victoria, baby kelp, grown from microscopic spores on spools of twine and on small rocks at the Marine Science Centre, have been planted out by Nature Conservancy divers and attached to rocky reefs in Port Phillip Bay. They are expected to keep growing and support the recovery of Golden Kelp forests.
The festival participants broke into spontaneous applause several times through Prue’s presentation, especially when she showed a map with the location of many seed banks dotted all along the Victorian coastline, ready for replanting kelp where needed. Watch this short video and read more here . Rev. Greg Crowe described Prue as a “midwife of Creation” as he thanked her on our behalf, at the end of her presentation.
The beautiful photos and videos showing the restoration work inspired me then, and continue to give me hope for the health of Port Phillip Bay, and along the Victorian coast. Now I’m listening with hope for scientific work to address the frightening advance of toxic algae along the South Australian coast.
Christina Rowntree, Season of Creation 2025