The Great African Seaforest

Kelp forests are found throughout much of the temperate and Arctic world, providing a crucial habitat for a dizzying array of marine life from sharks to nudibranchs. But in recent years these hotspots of biodiversity have been vanishing at an alarming rate. Kelp forests in parts of the U.S. and Australia now cover just 5% of their former area, and similar reductions are being seen all over the world. Bucking the trend, The Great African Seaforest, which stretches for over 1000km along the southwestern coast of Africa, is thought to be gradually expanding, giving it an ever greater importance at a time of unprecedented kelp loss. This underwater wonderland has been little studied and new species are still being discovered all the time. It is among the world's greatest natural wonders, yet still one of the least understood.