Animal Type: Ochrophta
Scientific Name: Nereocytis luetkeana
Description: Bull kelp is the largest form of brown algae and looks like a giant sea snake. It is also called giant kelp, horsetail kelp, and ribbon kelp because of its size and shape. These plants grow entirely in one season, from spring to fall, and can grow up to two feet in just one day! These enormous kelps are held upright by a round bulb or air bladder that acts as a float and is located at the end of a long, rope-like, hollow stalk called the stipe. Long, flowing kelp blades or ribbons up to three metres in length radiate from the bulb. The blades are shiny and leathery in appearance. The spherical bulb is filled with up to 10% carbon monoxide to allow the kelp blades to float near the ocean’s surface and be exposed to sunlight. The kelp is held in place at the ocean floor by thick roots called stay-fasts. Bull kelp grow in high densities in large fields or forests on rocky shelves in the ocean’s headlands (capes) which helps prevent erosion and also warns boaters about shallow reefs. Bull kelp forests create homes for many types of fish, jellies, and shellfish and are feeding grounds for animals such as seals and sea otters. In fact, another name for bull kelp is sea otter’s cabbage! When the kelp dies in the winter, it washes up on shore and provides food for beach crabs, periwinkles, and sea fleas.
Size: Up to 36 metres long
Habitat: Near-shore shallows to 20 metres. They grow on rocky substrates in areas with high current or moderate wave action.
Range: Aleutian Islands south to California.
Diet: Sunlight!
Predators: Bull kelp provides food for many animals such as seals, otters, crabs, sea fleas, periwinkles
Conservation: Common.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOXrz_7Jp8
Cool Facts:
Bull kelp is very nutritious and often used in sushi
Bull kelp has commercial uses as well such as potash salts and fertilizers
Kelp extract is used as a thickener is products such as paint, mayonnaise, ice cream, and hand lotion
First Nations used dried kelp bulbs for fishing gear and storage containers
You can make a rattle with the dried bulbous end of bull kelp (and fill it with seeds)
Sources:
https://www.victoriawaterfronttours.com/bull-kelp-facts.html
http://www.primitiveways.com/bull_whip_kelp.html
https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/bull-kelp-bull-nereocystis-luetkeana.html
Shaw Centre for Salish Sea Guide by Brian Obee
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