Having lived in both California (born and returned from 1984-1995) and Florida (summer vacations and recent time share weeks), I have had many opportunities to walk along the beach. One constant during these walks is the "seaweed" that we must step around. I have always wondered about the little bulbs that are part of the "seaweed". I avoid stepping on them, afraid that they will pop under my bare feet :o)
In the Spring 2008 issue of the Nature Conservancy magazine, there was an article called Sea Greens. Our beach "seaweed" is actually kelp, and here is a caption to one of the pictures: "Each kelp stalk, or stripe, develops leaf like attachments called fronds. At the base of each frond is a small air bladder that buoys the blade up to the surface, where it continues to grow while forming a dense canopy approximately 4 feet deep."
Mystery Solved! If you follow the following link, you will discover that the kelp is an integral part of the ocean ecosystem, and the sea otters are just plain cute.
http://www.nature.org/magazine/spring2008/files/seagreens.swf
1 comment:
Very cool! I don't like stepping on that stuff, either, but good to know it's not harmful. I still don't think I'll step on it, though--there could be things hiding in there. I wish we were in Florida right now--our sweaters aren't fending off the chill as well as they usually do!
Beth
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