This week’s photo, from Aurora Alifano, is a close up of Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) which is an alga found along the entire West Coast of North America, from Alaska to California.
Giant kelp can grow up to 2 feet per day making it one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Giant kelp makes up an essential part of nearshore ocean ecosystems especially in regions characterized by cold, nutrient rich waters.
Massive agglomerations of individual kelp plants make up ecosystems known as kelp forests, which are rich and diverse ecosystems. From the plant base (known as holdfasts) to the jumbled mats of kelp fronds floating at the surface, a huge variety of organisms from polychaetes (marine worms) to rockfishes, call kelp forests home.
You can read more about kelp forests at the NOAA Marine Sanctuaries website
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