Bull kelp off the coast of Van Damme State Park, California. Cove by cove, scientists, divers and volunteers in California are hauling up urchins to protect kelp. — Glenna Gordon/The New York Times
FROM the bluffs, you might have mistaken the little brown heads poking out of the ocean month for seals, hundreds of them, gathered for a morning conclave.
In fact, they were something almost as surprising: bulb upon glistening bulb of kelp, more of it than the cove in northern California had seen in years.
