BELFAST — The series of storms that recently lashed the Maine coast also affected the Belfast Marine Institute’s kelp farm off City Park.
BMI staff ventured out to check on the condition at the farm and found the storms had tangled two of the three 400-foot sugar kelp lines. One line had even separated from its anchor and mingled with its neighboring line, causing quite a tangle.
Students untangled the mess, which took some time, then dragged and reset, after first finding and reattaching the missing anchor.
Eventually all three lines were moved back to their original position. No gear had been lost, but some of the tangled kelp lines had been scraped clean of growth. A visual check of the third undamaged line showed good kelp growth, so still in business!