This dataset is part of a suite of studies conducted in Southeast Alaska to determine how kelp communities respond to variable environmental conditions arising from seasonal variability as well as changing ocean temperature and acidification conditions. The benthic communities in Sitka Sound and Torch Bay, Alaska were investigated at 19 sites from 1988 through 2019. Twenty quadrats were placed at random locations along a transect line, then benthic species were counted or the percent cover...