As was true of #41 in this series, I took the featured photograph in southeastern Alaska’s Glacier Bay in June 2015.
Unsurprisingly, kelp “forests” thrive there.
Kelps (and all other seaweed species) do photosynthesise, but – like all other algae – they are not plants.
Algae – even the towering “forests” of giant kelp – have no roots, nor any “complex” vascular structures.
As anyone who has harvested washed-up kelp from a beach knows, a single frond from a kelp “forest” can be massive – much too heavy to float.
So how does a kelp “forest” manage to stay upright, with its fronds positioned high enough in the water column to enable them to “harvest” the necessary sunlight?
You are looking at the answer.
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