General Info

Rachel Hutchinson (front) fit the blue rope through the pipe holding the kelp to unspool the kelp-laden twine so it wrapped around the rope, while Josh Reitsma (back) affixed the twine to the rope so it wouldn’t wash away.

Many of the tools used to set up this experiment can be found at a local hardware store: rope, electrical tape, twine, and a sharp knife. Josh Reitsma unwound several yards of rope standing in cold water at a Yarmouth embayment November 9, 2023.

On November 9, 2023, Research Assistant Hadley Kerr from Scott Lindell’s lab at WHOI (left) prepared several spools for Rachel Hutchinson (right) to take to Yarmouth.

WHOI scientists in Scott Lindell’s lab grow different species of kelp for selective breeding experiments. The sugar kelp selected for the WHOI Sea Grant project is a species native to Cape Cod. Kelp spores were brushed onto twine, spooled around a PVC pipe, and incubated in a tank for about a month until the kelp was large enough to outplant.

Kelp in Chatham, March 3, 2024 (PC Rachel Hutchinson)

Kelp planted in Falmouth, January 12, 2024

Eight sites across Cape Cod were selected for the kelp study in collaboration with local aquaculture farmers.

Eight sites across Cape Cod were selected for the kelp study in collaboration with local aquaculture farmers.

WHOI scientist Sarah Das, left, and graduate student Rilee Thomas next to a “citizen science” coastal monitoring station CoastSnap on Cape Cod.