Los Angeles artist and mycologist Sam Shoemaker recently completed a remarkable 26 mile paddle from Catalina Island to San Pedro in a kayak grown entirely from mushrooms, proving that fungi based materials could one day replace the plastics that choke our oceans. Shoemaker cultivated his 14 foot vessel from mycelium, the dense root like network that forms the foundation of fungi, combined with hemp substrate inside a mold from a kayak he found on Craigslist. The growing process took only four weeks, but months of drying, baking, and sealing with beeswax followed to make the mushroom structure water resistant and seaworthy, resulting in a cork like buoyant boat weighing 135 pounds. During his 12 hour ocean crossing, Shoemaker encountered a massive fin whale that shadowed his experimental vessel, underscoring both the vulnerability and resilience of a biodegradable boat holding its own in one of the planet’s toughest environments.
The mushroom kayak proved slower and less maneuverable than traditional models, but it handled the Pacific crossing without capsizing or breaking apart, joining a growing movement of fungal innovation that includes companies developing mushroom based leather, textiles, insulation, and even construction materials. Unlike plastics that linger in oceans for centuries, mycelium naturally decomposes and offers truly biodegradable solutions for marine and terrestrial applications, though significant hurdles remain around durability, weight, and the labor intensive treatment process that took more than a year. Shoemaker deliberately made his methods open source rather than patenting them, hoping scientists, makers, and innovators will build on his work to accelerate adoption and refine the process for larger scale production. If a boat can be grown from fungi harvested near a Los Angeles home, the artist asks, what else can be replaced in our quest to build a sustainable economy free from petroleum based plastics that damage marine ecosystems and accumulate as harmful microplastics in food chains worldwide.
