Monitoring over time
The first camera captured images every 10 minutes over three months between September 2022 and January 2023. In the three minute time lapse video (click here for video) you can see kina moving across the area and seaweed starting to regrow after the kina removal events early December.
Our second camera captured kina grazing on giant kelp in September and October 2022 (click here for video). In the back you can see kina climbing up into giant kelp and chewing through the stipes until it fully disappears. At the end of the clip is a close up sequence which was captured on the camera first.
Divers retrieving the kinakams from the project site to check on time lapse footage.
The two main species captured in our time lapse videos are giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) and flapjack (Carpophyllum flexuosum). Giant kelp (order Laminares) can grow up to 60cm a day and to over 50m in length in the right conditions. We have observed giant kelp in the project area growing from the bottom to the surface and forming large floating forests within a few weeks. Carpohyllum (order Fucales) is more shrub-like and grows to up to two metres. Carpophyllum species grow much slower and in the first video you can see blades growing to 6-8cm within two months. We now have to be patient to see regeneration results for large areas of the project site where we hope to see regrowth of carpophyllum forests!
