Giant kelp can shoot up about 45 cm a day off Point Loma during spring upwelling, turning bare rock into a forest in weeks. That sprint builds nursery habitat and boosts biodiversity while locking away carbon — what other marine “records” do you know that matter for ecosystem health and conservation?
But oysters are my favorite ‘record’ — one adult can filter about 50 gallons/day, and on our pier project I saw visibility jump within hours. If you’re near a bay, bring a cheap Secchi disk and log before/after readings during reef checks, though filtering drops in cold or low-oxygen water: https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/organisms/eastern-oyster.
Fastest carbon burying per square meter might be seagrass; when we swapped a few swing-chain moorings for helix + elastic lines in Mission Bay, the eelgrass filled the bare donuts in one season. It costs a bit more upfront. @elise_watson43 would your marina consider a conservation mooring upgrade (https://www.conservationmoorings.org)?