Sequoias of the Sea

The Vanishing Kelp Forests of California

More than 90% of the kelp forests have disappeared along the Northern California Coast

This film will take viewers on a journey of the Sequoias of the Sea and the challenges facing our disappearing sea forests.

Kelp forests cover a quarter of the world’s coastlines, providing food and shelter for thousands of species, while also sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. But over the past decade a third of these forests have been lost across the planet. Along the 350 mile stretch of coastline from San Francisco to the Oregon Border we have lost a striking 95% of kelp forests. While many other important ocean ecosystems are getting attention, such as coral reefs, kelp is the lost forest of the ocean that is disappearing before our eyes.

With a perfect storm of climate change causing warming oceans, sea stars disappearing and urchin populations exploding, we are witnessing an ecological disaster in one of the most highly managed and protected coasts in the world.

Our team of ocean filmmakers will document the coastline that once harbored productive kelp forests where now only bare rock and urchins remain. We will follow the divers and fishermen whose livelihoods have been impacted by this loss, and the communities that depend on this ecosystem. We will also track the researchers who are trying to find solutions to bring the kelp back.

We will take you on a dive through the cold rough waters of northern California, where most have never set eyes, bringing the audience beneath the surface of the ocean to highlight the beauty, fragility and resilience of California’s hidden forest.

International Ocean Film Festival Screening

April 12th, 2024 4pm

Screening of a ‘work in progress’ of Sequoias of the Sea on April 12, 2024 at the International Ocean Film Foundation Film Festival followed by a Q&A with Directors/Producers Natasha Benjamin and Ana Blanco.

Tickets