Little green marbles

 

I encountered a small patch of Derbesia marina after field work in Oregon this morning — a fun seaweed sometimes called Green Sea Grape.  It looks like little green marbles (or miniature glass fishing floats?).  [Each "bubble" is less than 10 mm across.]

Here are two more views:

 

 

Derbesia marina is often found fairly low in the intertidal zone emerging from coralline algae (the encrusting pink algae in the background).

I haven't seen Derbesia on Bodega Head that often, but here's one example from 2010: