🌊 Beneath the waves off the Oregon coast, bull kelp creates entire underwater forests.

This fast-growing seaweed is one of the most important foundation species in our nearshore marine ecosystem.

#OregonCoast #BullKelp #MarineEcosystem #OceanConservation #OregonWildlife

Unlike many large seaweeds that live for multiple years, #bullkelp grows from a microscopic spore in the spring to towering over 100 ft long by late summer - all in a single season. By winter, the entire plant dies, leaving only microscopic spores behind to start the cycle again.
📸: Jackie Hildering

Melibe aka hooded nudibranchs amongst bull kelp blades

#nudibranch #melibe #kelp #bullkelp #pnwscuba #pnwwildlife #washingtonwildlife #uwmacro #uwmacrophotography #kelpforest #olympicpeninsula #olympustg6

🌊 We’re planting Bull Kelp in the Pacific Ocean! 🌿 Growing up to 200ft, it provides food & shelter for marine life 🐟, helps clean the water 🌊, and supports ocean health. #Fleetmaxx #BullKelp #OceanConservation #Sustainability

👉 https://bit.ly/3EIe2DS

I came across a 67 made of Bull kelp on Chesterman Beach, at low tide. I thought it was interesting enough to capture, well before 67 became a meme.

I came across a bull kelp 67 on Chesterman Beach, Vancouver Island.

#ColorADay #BWFri #SixSeven #ClassicMono #LowTide #BullKelp #Tofino #VancouverIsland #photography #EastCoastKin

Another fun fact is that under ideal conditions, both giant and bull kelp can grow 10-12 inches per day!

#bullkelp #kelp #giantkelp #pnwwildlife #washingtondiving #pnwdiving #straitofjuandefuca #washingtonwildlife #pnwkelp #kelpforest

Learnt to make native chumash rattlers a year or so ago. Put a couple together . Let us hope it sets up nicely. #bullkelp #driftwood #nativeamericanart #nativeamericanmusic
Will make seashell pigments to embellish it with a design.

The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp This web-based book celebrates the power of art and science to tell the story of kelp forests on the North Pacific Coast.

Dive into the lush, animated world of North Pacific kelp forests. Sway with the bull kelp, meet local critters, and learn why these forests matter. It’s beautiful, interactive, and worth a scroll:
bullkelp.info
#KelpForest #OceanWonder #MarineLife #BullKelp #OceanHoptimism

For #BlueSkyArtShow ... #sideways #BullKelp 🌊🧜🏻‍♀️ @bigbarnacle.bsky.social

Bull Kelp floating in the Noyo Harbor bay during a minus tide this morning, taken from the stone jetty. Fort Bragg, California.

Aaah! I slipped back in politics. 🙈
Here’s some beautiful young Bull Kelp beds down at the Noyo Harbor bay this morning. 💚
See reefcheck.org on Kelp restoration along our coast.
#gotkelp #bullkelp #mendocinocoast

The moment you discover hope along the Oregon coast...

#bullkelp #kelp #kelpforest #oregon #oregoncoast #kelprestoration #pnw #elakhaalliance #marinescience

#Bullkelp is a keystone species off Oregon’s coast. 🌿

It forms seasonal underwater forests that:
🦀 Shelter marine life
🌊 Buffer wave energy
🌬️ Absorb carbon

But it's declining due to warming waters & unchecked urchins. Protecting it = protecting coastal ecosystems

📸: Flip Nicklin #oregon #kelp

🌊 #Bullkelp in the wrack line isn’t just beach debris—it’s an ecosystem powerhouse! 🌿

🐚 Feeds tiny invertebrates 🦀 Provides shelter 🏝️ Helps stabilize dunes 🌱 Enriches coastal soils 🐾 Supports wildlife

Next time you see kelp washed ashore, know it’s helping the coast!

📸: Gretchen Kay Stuart

Several small bull kelp sprouting from the top of a dogwinkle (marine snail) shell

Today for #phycologyfriday: a couple of tiny bull kelp sprouting from the shell of a dogwinkle

#bullkelp #nereocystis #kelp #phycology #seaweed #algae #marinelife #intertidal #marinebiology #science #tidepool

A small bull kelp with a very unusual morphology. The stipe is wrinkled and twisted, while the blades arise from the side of the oblong pneumatocyst instead of the top

Today for #phycologyfriday: a rather unusual bull kelp that popped up in a lab tumble culture

#bullkelp #nereocystis #kelp #seaweed #phycology #marinelife #intertidal #marinebiology #science #biology

Microscope photo of a cluster of very young bull kelp. The kelps look like translucent elliptical blades with individual rectangular cells visible in a gridlike pattern. Transparent filaments radiate from the base of the young kelps.

Lab grown bull kelp sporophytes with tiny rhizoids and the barest hint of a stipe for #phycologyfriday

#bullkelp #marinebiology #phycology #kelp #seaweed #algae #science #biology #marine #ocean

Time to embrace February (and BlueSky) and flip the page on your WILD Calendar.

It's my monthly opportunity to thank all of you who send these calendars far and wide to increase awareness and, maybe, positive action.

The image descriptor is in the comments.

#Kelp #KelpForest #BullKelp

#Kelp

Golden light shines on a twisted mass of bull kelp along the shores of a California beach.

Entangled

Bull kelp, Nereocystis luetkeana, was often a favorite subject of mine underwater. Tangled and twisted with the evening’s last glimpse of golden light, this beach bound ball of kelp warranted attention.

#bullkelp #landscapephotography #art #nature #beauty #kelp #californiacoast #beach

😮 The blades of a #bullkelp can grow up to 10 feet long in a single growing season!

These impressive blades are connected to a gas-filled bladder (called a pneumatocyst) which helps the blades float near the surface, soaking up sunlight for photosynthesis.

📸: Laura Tesler #ocean #kelpforest

Bull kelp growing towards the surface on a rocky reef. The water is a mix of blue and green, the young bull kelp are golden yellow. A bright orange sponge grows over the reef in the foreground. Photo by Patrick Webster / UnderwaterPat

A bright swirl of giant kelp canopy glows golden yellow on the surface of the water. Looking up towards the surface, the shallow water is a light blue. In the foreground, bright pink coralline algae shelters a juvenile rocky fish, which can be seen swimming next to thick eelgrass. Photocredit: Patrick Webster/Underwater Pat

A bright señorita, a cigar-shaped fish, swims in the foreground in front of thick strands of yellow green giant kelp growing towards the surface. The cool ocean water is a hazy blue. More fish and kelp can bee seen in the background. Photocredit: Pike Spector

Rich, golden giant kelp as seen from the sky. The intricate patterns of giant kelp canopy mix with silty gray-blue water. Photocredit: Ralph Pace

So glad to see that #phycologyfriday is still a thing!

Here in California we're lucky to have not one, but TWO species of canopy forming kelps! #Giantkelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) and #bullkelp (Nereocystis leutkeana).

Who's your favorite canopy-former?

#phycyeah #marinelife

📷 credit in alt text

Today for #phycologyfriday: intertidal bull kelp with extremely short stipes. Spotted at Ogden Point, Victoria BC

#nereocystis #bullkelp #phycology #kelp #seaweed #algae #marinebiology #intertidal #science #victoriaBC #britishcolumbia #fieldwork

A scuba diver underneath bull kelp

A scuba diver in bull kelp seen from below

This was an exciting demo that we can get #BullKelp to grow from #greengravel, & that it’ll attach to the seafloor. Felt surreal to dive on a miniature #kelp forest we restored where it had been extirpated for over a decade! Pictured are me & dive buddy Dr. Lauren Dykman. Read more at kelprescue.org

Scuba diver underneath bull kelp

Bull kelp holdfast attached to rocks

A highlight of 2024 was diving on some of our experimental #BullKelp #restoration outplants in the Salish Sea for the Kelp Rescue Initiative! This plot was in K’ómoks territory, off Denman Island. We cultured their gametophytes from spores in 2023, & outplanted #greengravel in late winter 🌊
#kelp

Bull kelp on sandy beach with golden light and sea foam

Went to Ucluelet (aka Ukee) last week. Found some bull kelp and waves. This image has a few texture layers added. Discovered I cannot be too chatty on my posts...it’s limited characters 😱🤷‍♀️😏

#bullkelp #goldenlight #photography #fineart #artistonbluesky

FOOD FOREST UNUSED WATERS!!!!!
Underwater seaweed farms (with a diversity of symbiotic species), are like underwater food forests!!!
They basically do the same things in the ocean as food forests do on land and to air!!!

#seaweed
#seaweedfarm
#kelp
#kelpforest
#bullkelp
#aquaculture
#marinelife

Something for #PhycologyFriday. A #Bullkelp #Nereocystis holdfast, with negatively phototropic haptera. The tips are #meristoderms that grow away from light as you would expect if you were trying to attach to the bottom! They also make a great garnish in your kelp pickles. And they’re just lovely!

All the bull kelp in these artsy presses were entirely lab-grown grown in closed-system recirculating culture doi.org/10.1111/jpy....
#phycologyfriday #phycology #nereocystis #nereocystisluetkeana #bullkelp #aquaculture #mariculture

#HappyHalloween 🎃 If you also dressed up like a #seaotter today, we'd love to sea your costumes 🦦. Our Dir of Outreach, Chanel Hason, got into the holiday spirit by crafting a #bullkelp with #seaurchins to accompany her sea otter onesie 🌿

‘Old-growth forest under the ocean’ is in deep trouble in WA Bull kelp once cloaked Puget Sound's shorelines, providing habitat for other species and preventing erosion. They've been in decline for decades.

🌿 Protecting these vital kelp beds ensures a thriving marine environment for future generations and strengthens our connection to the natural world.
#kelpforest #kelp #washington #pnw #oregon #oregoncoast #bullkelp #helpthekelp #climatechange
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

‘Old-growth forest under the ocean’ is in deep trouble in WA Bull kelp once cloaked Puget Sound's shorelines, providing habitat for other species and preventing erosion. They've been in decline for decades.

#kelp #washington

Back in the 1990s, I spent a summer diving in the #bullkelp around Anacortes. Is sad to hear about the decline of this habitat.

"The Samish are seeing perhaps a 30% decline over the past couple of decades..."

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...