Jeff and I just got back from the Broken islands, BC trip. As many of you know, we have been kayak camping for over fifteen years on the West coast of Vancouver island and the San Juan Islands. The good news is we saw a small group of sea lions, some seals, a few grey whales and some porpoises but they bad news is the star fish that used to decorate our shores with bright orange and purple are still gone. Last year within a two to three week period, billions of them died throughout the Pacific NW in what was reported to be a viral infection. Either radioactive waters from Fukoshima or climate change or a combination must have been underlining since it was a common endemic virus around since the 1950’s. There were a few tiny ones in some protected places. (Note: blood stars and leather stars were not affected)

The ancient kelp beds were pretty much gone and this is even more worrying to me. I had always taken bull kelp for granted, even cursed getting my paddle caught in it, but now I long to see it thrive again. Without it, fish cannot hide and the ecosystem is disrupted. I try to treat lightly: driving a Prius, don’t eat beef or dairy (methane producers), don’t use sprays that affect the ozone, and try to live with minimal impact, deciding on no kids (except 4 leggeds) years ago (we have over 7.4 billion people on Earth). Any other ideas? Let’s hope the kelp beds can find a way to adapt.