(intriguing music) - I'm Paris Jackson in the Crosscut KCTS 9 Newsroom.

The Samish Indian Nation's Department of Natural Resources Dive Team started reef check surveying in the summer of 2021.

A new national protocol assesses the health of kelp by collecting and comparing data between states along the west coast and in Canada.

For generations, kelp has been an important part of Samish diet and culture.

DNR officials say if kelp forests go away, a whole host of species will too, and impact people who use kelp for foods.

Kelp forests also combat global climate change.

Washington State's kelp forests take up 27 to 136 metric tons of carbon per day, equivalent to the emissions of 2,000 to 10,500 vehicles per year.

Without the vital food chain and habitat kelp provides, ecologists fear decline in all the other life that depends on kelp will follow.

I'm Paris Jackson.

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