NS Artist helps kelp grow in homemade clay pots in underwater art installation

A Dalhousie University student is combining his passion for conservation and art to help regenerate native seagrass populations.

Kelp is a food source and provides shelter to many marine species, but Warm ocean temperatures have decimated its population in Nova Scotia.,

That’s why Kit Timoshuk created clay pots that can house baby kelp, tame it, and help it grow.

“There’s this type of restoration method called green gravel, where you grow kelp on small pieces of rock and then you can spread them in the water, where you’re hoping to regenerate degraded kelp forests,” Timoshuk said.

“And so it kind of sparked this idea of ​​what if we grew seagrass on something that wasn’t little rocks? Like could I grow it on clay pots?”

To make his vision a reality, Timoshuk said he received a $5,000 grant from Ocean Wise, a BC environmental organization, and went out to different swamps during the summer to collect the wild soil that goes into these pots.

Timoshuk said they prefer wild clay over commercial clay because they want to ensure the ingredients are locally sourced. He collected more than five kilograms of soil, the size of which was reduced after removing impurities.

They had to test all the clay they collected to make sure it would throw correctly and withstand the high temperatures. In the kiln.

The current oceanography master’s candidate and Nova Scotia College of Art and Design alumnus settled on soil from Stewiacke, NS, and Annapolis Royal, but he ended up having to add some commercial soil to it as well.

Then, Timoshuk had to design a vessel that was both attractive and functional.

He explained, “I needed to make the exterior very textured to make sure the sea grass had a good foundation to stick to.” “And then I also try to at least keep the walls absolutely straight to make sure they have the best chance for light to reach all sides so that as much kelp can grow as possible.”

He said that he wanted the pots to appear as if they belonged to nature, which is why he took inspiration from corals, trees and barnacles.

Timoshuk brought their clay and designs to his pottery wheel, which is in his backyard.

Her roommate and close friend Teagan Leber said that after seeing the process she immediately took an interest in the project and offered to document the project.

“It’s been special to watch,” she said.

When the pots were ready, Timoshuk took them to the Aquatron laboratory at Dalhousie University, where he began the process of bringing the kelp spores into a controlled environment, and then submerging the pots in water so that the spores could settle in them.

After five weeks, the baby kelp began growing at the top of the pots, and they were ready to be moved to their new home.

Leber, an avid snorkeller, helped Tymoshuk carry the vessel to Cranberry Cove in December, a popular dive site near Peggy’s Cove.

“It’s been so interesting to watch this art project evolve as they go from finding wild mud and processing it… and then finally returning the seagrass to the ocean as art,” he said.

Timoshuk said he hasn’t been back to check on the pots since, but he hopes other snorkelers will help keep track of the kelp’s progress, as well as enjoy what he calls an underwater art installation.

He said kelp typically grows faster in the winter, so he hopes the next time they visit, the kelp will have grown into the classic string shape the species is known for.

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