Data regarding the abundance of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) along the east coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia is limited, but there is evidence that bull kelp populations have been in steady decline within the
central Strait of Georgia within recent decades (Lamb et al., 2011). In addition, local residents that frequent the coast have reported that N. luetkeana has been significantly declining in the Salish Sea over the past 30 years, becoming nonexistent in regions where it was previously abundant (Lindop, 2017). Reasons for significant declines of N. luetkeana forests in the Salish Sea may include coastal development, rising ocean temperatures, local changes in
oceanographic conditions (e.g. salinity, turbidity and sedimentation), intensified herbivore grazing or a combination of these factors (Steneck et al., 2002, Heath et al., 2017).
