NSW Macrocystis rafting

Out-of-range observations of significant rafts of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) washing ashore in southern NSW in winter 2020.

On 9 August 2020, two local marine naturalists on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia noticed a significant amount of a large unfamiliar kelp washed up on a local beach. Following some quick confirmations via phone and email, it was revealed that the unfamiliar seaweed was giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera): a species whose closest known populations are ~450 km away to the south (in Tasmania and western Victoria) and whose transport to New South Wales would have required oceanic rafting over several weeks and hundreds of kilometres against the prevailing south-flowing East Australian Current. Subsequent community-led searches over the following days confirmed four more locations of often-substantial amounts of giant kelp wrack, as well as many more anecdotal and unconfirmed accounts.

2020年冬季，澳大利亚新南威尔士州南部海岸出现巨型海带（Macrocystis pyrifera）大规模筏体被冲上海滩的分布区外观测记录。

2020年8月9日，澳大利亚新南威尔士州南海岸的两名当地海洋博物学家发现大量陌生大型海藻被冲至当地海滩。经电话与邮件快速核实后确认，该陌生海藻为巨型海带（Macrocystis pyrifera）：该物种已知的最近种群位于南部约450公里外的塔斯马尼亚州与维多利亚州西部，其抵达新南威尔士州需借助海洋筏运，耗时数周、跨越数百公里且需逆流流经主流向南的东澳大利亚洋流（East Australian Current）。在随后数日开展的社区主导搜索中，相关人员确认了另外4处存在大量巨型海带残骸的地点，同时收集到大量未被证实的传闻与目击记录。