Garie Beach

Why is there so much Seaweed on Southern California beaches in August?

i live in San Diego and enjoy surfing/swiming in the beach, i have noticed a considerable amount of seaweed lately and am wondering why there is so much seaweed on the beaches. If you can help i would be much obliged

Public Comments

1. The oscillation of the ocean currents, causes downward drift, from the north to the south. so since most Kelp (seaweed) grows in cooler north California and Washington, a lot gets drifted down to southern California beaches.
2. It might be that with slightly warmer water, the sea urchins move a little faster, and so gnaw through "seaweed" holdfasts more in the summer. If we had more sea otters, this problem would probably not be so noticeable. Sea otters eat sea urchins.