{"id":940,"date":"2020-08-01T22:44:10","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T21:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/animal\/kelp\/"},"modified":"2020-08-01T22:44:10","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T21:44:10","slug":"kelp","status":"publish","type":"animal","link":"https:\/\/neuronicdev.es\/deep-sea-world\/discover\/animals\/kelp\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelp"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Scottish Seas and Rockpools<\/span>\n

Kelp<\/h1>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n<\/section>\n\n
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Kelp! I need somebody\u2019s Kelp! Not just anybody\u2019s Kelp!<\/span><\/p>\n

Is kelp a plant or an animal? Is kelp seaweed? Whatever questions you have about the stuff, the answers to whatever kelp-y queries you have may just surprise you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s found all over the world\u2019s oceans, and it actually does a whole lot for all kinds of different species living there \u2013 it can even help us humans too!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll tell you all about what exactly kelp is, where it can be found and how it makes the water a safer place.<\/p>\n

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What\u2019s the difference between kelp and seaweed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Kelp and seaweed definitely look similar, and they\u2019re closely related to each other. In fact, some people use the names seaweed<\/em> and kelp<\/em> without realising they might be using one word to describe the other.<\/p>\n

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Seaweed is part of the algae family, and kelp is a subgroup of seaweed \u2013 actually it\u2019s the largest. In other words, kelp is algae and algae is kind of like a plant, but not. Still with us? Algae doesn\u2019t have stems, roots, and other things that common plants usually have.<\/p>\n

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So, what else is interesting about kelp?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Well, for starters, it\u2019s huge<\/em>. Because it doesn\u2019t have roots, kelp attaches to a rock or other solid structure, usually found on the ocean floor, and grows from there. It\u2019s a fast grower too, shooting upwards as fast as half a metre a day to reach heights of 30 to 80 metres!<\/p>\n

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And in place of stems, it has stiff, stalk-like growths called stipes which hold them up towards the sunlight. When there are lots of kelp growing in a group, they can form very dense forests which then act as ecosystems where animals and non-living organisms can function together. In other words, kelp provides shelter for many species of fish and crustaceans! Handy, right?<\/p>\n

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Sea snails, meanwhile, can munch on small particles which get caught up in these kelp forests. Even mammals such as sea otters get in on the action, using the thick kelp to protect their eggs from powerful water currents. They even protect kelp from sea urchins, which can destroy entire kelp forests at a rate of 30 feet (9m) every month. How do they protect the kelp? By eating the sea urchins of course!<\/p>\n

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Plus, kelp is so fast-growing that kelp isn\u2019t in any danger of being over-harvested by us, either.<\/p>\n

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What does the kelp lifecycle look like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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One of the fastest growing organisms on earth, sea kelp comes to be in two stages. First, as a kind of fungi called spores, which are released from a parent as either male or female plants that will create the ability to form the second stage: a mature plant.<\/p>\n

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This mature plant grows from the tip of its blades, which contain apical cells (apical is a fancy term for \u201cat the top\u201d. These apical cells split up, they turn into the tissues of the algae, which results in the kelp growing upwards from the sea floor.<\/p>\n

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Where can you find kelp?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Kelp can be found all over the world in shallow waters which are cold and rich in nutrients. These waters need to be shallow because kelp need light to grow, so they usually stick to staying in water that isn\u2019t deeper than 131 feet.<\/p>\n

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These waters also tend to be found in coastal regions, in both temperate regions like Europe, North America and Canada, Russia and parts of Asia, and polar regions. However, in 2007 kelp was discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador! Altogether, kelp forests cover 20% of the world\u2019s coastlines, which is about 570,000 square miles!<\/p>\n

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Kelp health benefits: how can it help us?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Kelp isn\u2019t just great for the world\u2019s oceans and those living in them, it helps us humans in all kinds of different ways too! Let\u2019s take a look:<\/p>\n

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