Where's the Kelp? Warm Ocean Takes Toll on Undersea Forests

APPLEDORE ISLAND, Maine - Kelp forests are critical to the fishing industry but are disappearing around the world.
 
The Gulf of Maine is the latest global hotspot to lose kelp. Other areas include hundreds of miles in the Mediterranean and off Japan, Australia and the California coast.
 
Scientists say the likely culprits are climate change and invasive species.
 
A recent study in the Journal of Ecology found introduced species from as far away as Asia were covering as much as 90 percent of the Gulf of Maine's floor.