Photo by Mary Jo Adams Copyright 2003

"I've got a loverly bunch of seaweeds. There they are a lyin' on the beach. Red ones-green ones -- some as big as your head."

Those of us "of a certain age" remember the catchy tune, "I've got a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts", this paraphrased version is based upon. And a fall afternoon at the beach did reveal loverly bunches, piles, profuse numbers, of seaweeds washed ashore by the high waves of a storm -- somehow their variation bringing to mind that playful late 40's or early 50's song.

Indeed a varied and mixed bag, the piles contained a number of different species of algae-simple, mainly aquatic plants, lacking true roots, stems, or leaves-different sized, shapes, and colors.

And in the algal heaps, the wrack, but not visible to my naked eyes, would have been some mostly unicellular and microscopic microalgae referred to as phytoplankton, such as dinoflagellates and diatoms. The latters' cell walls containing not only that major carbohydrate plant cell wall constituent, cellulose, but the glass constituent, silica. (I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to view these sophisticated and incredibly beautiful life forms microscopically at the Marine Science Center laboratory in Port Townsend's Fort Worden as a Beach Watcher trainee.)

But it was the larger macroalgae referred to as seaweeds lying at my feet that day that were the attention grabbers, and I remembered that they were then further divided by botanists into three groups, distinguished, at least outwardly, by their pigmentation. Hence we have the green, brown, and red algae.

One of the browns that was hard to overlook at the beach because of its large size and numbers was Sugar Kelp, Laminaria saccharina . A member of the family Laminariaceae , it is included in the kelp group on the basis of its brownness and bigness.

These brown biggies are one of our most abundant kelps -- are found in waters from Alaska to Santa Catalina Island, California. They possess a pigment, fucoxanthin, which along with chlorophylls result in their dark tertiary coloration.

A lower intertidal to upper subtidal cooler -- water seaweed, Laminaria saccharina is in a zone that is always covered with water -- the exceptions on the low intertidal zone being the very lowest tides of the year. It's an area also seldom exposed to -- somewhat protected from -- the forces of fierce windstorms -- gigantic waves. Hence the zone is crowded with a huge variety of plants and animals -- nearly every square inch attests to the vast numbers -- more than the other intertidal areas combined.

Looking at a beached individual Laminaria saccharina , we note it consists of three main readily observable parts: At the base is its holdfast -- a structure limited to brown algae, made up of a mass of root like items that attach the organism to the substratum -- to rocks, shells, and other debris. Interestingly, however, these holdfasts do not assist in nutritive functions -- as previously noted, are not true roots. Their role is simply to grasp -- to anchor -- to hold the kelp in place. Yes, as the word implies, hold it fast.

From the holdfast extends a stem like structure which can be somewhat abbreviated to up to eight or nine inches in length called a stipe -- this in turn widening out to form a long, wide, moderately thick blade -- a blade that can be nine to ten feet in length -- long enough to reach up into sunlit waters to carry out most of the kelp's photosynthesis.

Often battered and wave-torn, the blade is readily identified when one notes the unique crinkly, blister like ripple marks running most of a mature blade's length along each side. Very young and older specimens may lack these bullations. (Interesting circular silvery patches of a microscopic, colony forming, encrusting bryozoan species are often seen on the flat blades late spring through early autumn.)

Laminaria is probably dying back in these, our colder months, to its holdfast and stipe, but the arrival of spring will find it resprouting once again. "Probably" because some feel only subtidal specimens are of a more perennial nature. Obviously there are many questions to be answered -- studies yet to be undertaken -- on kelp, seaweeds, and other marine life.

Laminaria and the other giant kelps of Northwestern waters, such as the also readily identifiable Bull Kelp, are among some of the largest plants known to humankind. They have the highest growth rate of all the Earth's organisms, and this is even in comparison with life in lush tropical rain forests and the most productive of agricultural lands.

Of commercial importance, derivatives of kelp have been and are used in a wide variety of products from medicines, to thickeners and stabilizers in food products, to adhesives and components in paints and polishes. They have been ground up and used as a salt substitute, and found to be of value commercially as a source of vitamins and minerals -- their ashes even used as a source of iodine.

The common name Sugar Kelp no doubt refers to the fact that this species contains mannite, a sugar alcohol that gives it a sweet taste. It is used as a stabilizing agent in some of our sweeter treats: candies, puddings, and ice creams -- also used as a foodstuff in Japan and no doubt by some Amerasians and others -- a good source of vitamin C, iodine, protein, and calcium when chopped up and added to casseroles or oriental dishes.

Sea urchins feed on -- are partial to Sugar Kelp. And fish and other creatures are pleased with the oxygen kelp forests release.

Of major importance to the food web, Sugar Kelp is but one of some 600 seaweed species in our waters.

Pat Nash
Beach Watcher
Class of '94