A kelp forest consists of large marine algae that resemble plants. Kelp, also called seaweed, provides shelter and food for many species of fish and invertebrates and also provides a habitat for marine mammals. Kelp forests provide habitats for many species of fish, invertebrates, and marine ...
The sea otter plays an important role in the marine ecosystem by keeping the kelp forests from being overwhelmed by urchins and other prey. The otter, in turn, is an important source of nutrition for many predators higher up the food chain. It’s often referred to as a “keystone species...
You can find them in coral reefs, muddy bays, underwater kelp forests, and pretty much every other kind of aquatic environment. Although there are starfish all over the world, this species is still considered to be near threatened. Human presence has destroyed many of the coral reefs that ...
Kelp Forests: Kelp forests are found in cold, productive, and relatively shallow waters. These underwater forests include an abundance of brown algae calledkelp. These giant plants provide food and shelter for a variety of marine life. In the U.S., the kelp forests that may most readily com...
Brown seaweeds grow in colder waters, and there are about 1,500 species in this group. Giant kelp is one type of brown seaweed. Often growing in towering groups, kelp form dense clusters in shallow waters, creating communities that are like underground forests. Giant kelp can grow over 33 ...
Only a few seaweed varieties are able to survive free-floating in the ocean; most have to be attached to something. Large seaweeds, such as kelp, have root-like appendages called holdfasts that allow them to hold firmly to a rock. They grow in colonies to form underwater forests, which ...
One reason fish are so diverse is that 70 percent of the planet is covered in water. The animals in this group live in a variety of habitats ranging from coral reefs and kelp forests to rivers, streams, and the open ocean. Another is that fish are very old on the evolutionary scale. ...
Kelp forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and a healthy forest can absorb as much as12 times the amount of CO2from the atmosphere than if it were subject to sea urchin predation. When sea otter populations are abundant, bald eagles prey primarily on fish and sea otter pups, bu...
Seaweed is a giant of the ocean. The largest giant kelp (another word for seaweed) in the North American Pacific Coast was 140 feet long. Beneath the sea, they form towering aquatic forests that rival the redwoods in beauty. By farming seaweed, companies likeBlue Evolutionare sustainably sourc...
They may sometimes come to shore, but they spend the majority of time in the water, hanging around kelp forests. Not all otters eat seafood. In a bizarre turn away from their normal diet, there are some otters in the Shetland Islands inScotlandwhich have been known to huntrabbitsinstead of...