Kelp Forests

Kelp forests are found mainly in cold, nutrient-rich waters on the western side of continents in temperate latitudes—although, unexpectedly, some were discovered in 2007 in warm tropical water around the Galápagos Islands.

Kelp is basically large seaweed—the various species are all types of brown algae. It is only distantly related to other aquatic and land plants but is well adapted to life in the sea, growing as much as 18 inches (50 cm) in a day. Giant kelp reaches lengths of 200 feet (30 m): half comprises the holdfast (how it attaches to the sea bed, however it is not a root, since it does not absorb anything), and half lies on the surface. The holdfast lives for 4-10 years; individual fronds live for 6-12 months.

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rjkoehler:

Seepweed covered mudflats, Seongmodo, Ganghwado.

boybehindthelens:

Tidal pools.

Cabongaoan Beach
Burgos, Pangasinan

(via boybehindthelens)

tokarphoto:

Seagulls, in a sea of seaweed, by the seashore…
Cliff Cove, NS. Canada.

~ Coast to Coast ~ Shades of Black & White ~ Abstractions ~

(via tokarphoto)

Mineral seaweed.

This stunning specimen of malachite resembles a marine boulder encrusted with greenery, which can almost be seen to undulate in a gentle marine current. The fronds are pseudomorphs, the replacement of one mineral in its original crystal shape by another, in this case azurite (another copper carbonate mineral). The green bubbles are secondary malachite, showing a habit called botryoidal.

The specimen is from Brazil, and measures 10x8x5 Cm.

Loz

Image credit: Rob Lavinsky/irocks.com

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What the heck is that?

In the last photo, you saw what a normal plankton bloom in the ocean looks like; strings of colors swirling in the water.

This is a photo from NASA’s Terra Satellite of a plankton bloom off the coast of China. We covered this bloom last month when pictures became available of gigantic, thick piles of seaweed built up along the coastline (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=536162603111455). This is a view of the same algal bloom, this time from the perspective of the Yellow Sea.

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