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Sunday, July 28, 2019

Little floats


Some juvenile Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) has been washing ashore recently (photo above from 27 July 2019).  It made me wonder — What's the smallest Bull Kelp I've photographed?

Here's one from August 2016 that's a fairly similar size to the one pictured above. (Although there's a very small individual that doesn't have a float yet hiding behind Eric's finger.)


And here's one from May 2012 that was growing in a tidepool in Mendocino County.  The float wasn't fully formed yet, and the blades attached to the float hadn't split:


I'll have to keep better track of the young individuals.  What's the smallest Bull Kelp float you've seen?

2 comments:

Charlie said...

Has there been any improvement in the kelp forests?

Jackie Sones said...

Hi, Charlie,

Thanks so much for reading and for the question. I don't survey Bull Kelp myself, but here are links to some helpful resources provided by CDFW:

A 2017 article about CDFW Kelp Surveys:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Science-Institute/News/cdfw-kelp-survey

A recent update from Laura Rogers-Bennett:
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Science-Institute/News/californias-disappearing-kelp-forests-what-scientists-and-divers-can-do-to-reverse-this-trend

The Sonoma-Mendocino Bull Kelp Recovery Plan:
https://farallones.org/climate/kelp/

I hope this helps!

Jackie