Wildlife
Giant kelps are the largest of the kelps, which in turn are the most complex kinds of brown algae. Reaching lengths of 45m long, kelps need a rocky seabed to attach themselves to. In ideal conditions where the water is clean, clear and nutrient-rich, giant kelps can grow at a rate of 36cm a day, making them the fastest growing of the algae.
Scientific name: Macrocystis
Rank: Genus
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Underwater ecosystem
A vast kelp forest provides sanctuary for animals like the sea otter.
Giant kelp grow in huge marine forests and are the largest form of algae in the world.
Submarine forest
A wealth of wildlife hides in the dense kelp forests.
A wealth of wildlife hides in the dense kelp forests.
Sea urchin barrens
New timelapse techniques capture the frenzied life of California's star gardens.
Using a flash strobe system linked to an in-built timer mechanism on his digital stills camera, cameraman Peter Kragh filmed timelapse in the wild for the first time. Previously, such sequences have been filmed in tanks. To the naked eye, these invertebrates seem inanimate, but at ultra-high speed their frenetic activity is revealed.
Macrocystis is a genus of kelp (algae). This genus contains the largest of all the phaeophyceae or brown algae. Macrocystis has pneumatocysts at the base of its blades. Sporophytes are perennial, and individual stipes may persist for many years. Common along the coast of the eastern Pacific Ocean, from central California to Baja California and north to southeast Alaska (Sitka).
One species, Macrocystis pyrifera, under this genus, has the fastest linear growth of any organism on earth. They can grow two hundred feet long at a rate of two feet a day.
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