WELCOME TO THE KELP FOREST

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The following is on the kelp forest located by Monterey Bay, California.

Some of the most beautiful places on earth are the kelp forests of the oceans, yet few people are aware of them. Kelp is an underwater plant that thrives on nutrients and sunlight. A great amount of kelp in one area composes a kelp forest. These forests hold an abundance of life. Thousands of marine animals feed on kelp, grow on kelp, and use kelp for protection against predators. Without kelp, many life forms would perish. Not only are kelp forests great habitats, they are wonderful diving sites. The beaty of these forests is breath taking. Long strands of smooth, olive green foliage reach toward the surface. Tiny fish dart through the fronds and sunlight streams through the strands to the bottom of the ocean. Bright colors shout out everywhere. Everyone, at least once in their life, should visit a kelp forest.

What is Kelp?

Kelp is a brown algae. Its scientic name is Phaeophyta. There are about one hundred kelp species in the world and kelp can live for up to fourteen years. New blades of kelp are produced every year. These plants are phenomenal growers. Harvesting kelp is like cutting grass--it graws back VERY quickly. Bull kelp can grow 10-20 meters in as little time as four months. It grows to the surface and is buoyed by an air bladder shaped like a light bulb. In the right conditions, these plants can grow up to 18 to 24 inches a day!!!

During the spring and summer, new kelp blades grow towards the sunlight. The new blades are not occupied by colonists (snails, fish, etc.) yet. Later, when the blades become older, they will be literally covered with these animals. In late spring, microscopic larvae from the animals that inhabit kelp forests attach to the blades. In mid-summer, the turban snail population rises. Small schools of fish search for food in the forest. Through all of spring and summer, harbor seals and sea otters raise their young in the forests. In the fall, warm water from offshore flows into the forest. Kelp grows at a slower rate because nutrients in the water begin to be depleted. Jellyfish float through the forest and the thich canopy of the forest slows the flow of water. Adult rockfish and large ocean sunfish swim only along the edges of the forest. In the winter, seaweed weakens. Old blades decay and are torn from holdfasts and stipes. Storm waves tear away blades of the kelp. Kelp litters the ocean floor, decays, and becomes a source of food for bottom ocean dwellers.

Here are a few links:
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Secrets of the Ocean Realm
Whales on the Net
Turtle Trax-A Marine Turtle Page
Center for Marine Conservation
National Marine Sanctuary Program

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