Kelp forests, flying fish possibly on verge of comeback in Avalon

AVALON ― Tourists and marine enthusiasts once flocked to Catalina Island to witness large numbers of flying fish emerge from the water and pierce the air surrounding a 50-foot power catamaran cruising across the channel just after sunset on any given night. The numbers of flying fish quickly diminished, however, as warming waters surrounding Catalina Island caused once plentiful kelp forests to all but disappear. No kelp forests meant the flying fish would no longer be found near the Catalina coast. Capt. John King, who offered flying fish tours aboard his catamaran, Catallac, took fewer trips before outsourcing the offering altogether. The flying fish were not back last summer like they were before, King said. Accordingly he leased out his catamaran for flying fish tours to the Santa Catalina Island Company. “I just decided [to lease the boat to Santa Catalina Island Company], because we didn’t have a lot of the flying fish since the kelp was pretty much wiped out in 2014,” King, who runs Afishinados Charters and Catallac Tours, said. “On our tours, we love to give them a good show. For a number of years, we pretty much could guarantee you were going to see 400 to 500 flying fish....