Kelp are large algae that live in cool, relatively shallow waters close to the shore. Sea Kelp grow up to 18 inches a day and like trees in a forest, kelp canopies tower above the ocean floor. They grow in dense groups and provide food and shelter for fish, marine mammal species, and invertebrates. Kelp forests can also influence coastal oceanographic patterns and help with the many ecosystem services. Sea Kelp need nutrient-rich waters in order for them to grow. The sea kelps growth is constrained by physical factors including light, substrata, sedimentation, nutrients, water motion, salinity, and temperature. Most of the time they are found in shallow open waters because of their dependency upon light for photosynthesis. Kelp forest are very essential in the areas they are located but due to increase the amount of sea urchins the kelp forest are being destroyed.…show more content… They live on the ocean floor whether the water is warm or cold. This is why the amounts of sea urchins have increased in parts of the world. Sea urchins live in colonies in the ocean at the base of kelp forests. At mid-latitudes about 40–60°, herbivory by sea urchins is the most common and most important agent of kelp deforestation. This is where they chew through the stalks of kelp. If sea urchins are not disturbed by predators, the sea urchins can decimate a kelp forest, leaving an ocean floor only habited by urchins. Making it urchin barren an area almost or completely denuded of kelp. Sea urchins break down kelp using a structure called Aristotle's lantern. It is made up of five hard plates that come together like a beak. Grazing sea urchins can reduce the amount of kelp found in an area and therefore can drastically affect kelp forest community structure. The main issue the sea urchins bring is an outbreak in disease in herbivorous sea urchins. This leads to an ecosystem phase shift to urchin barren kelp beds on temperate rocky