The Browns

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Below are the brown seaweeds I’ve been lucky enough to find and photograph on Oregon’s exposed rocky shores or cast up on the beaches. I’ve organized them loosely after Kozloff (1993) and Lamb and Hanby (2005), in the order you might encounter them on intertidal rocks from highest to lowest. If I use common names, they’re my choice and my photos are all from northern Oregon unless noted. Experts cover the seaweeds shown below, and many more, in the resources listed at the bottom of the page.

Let the browns be upon you!


Fucus Rockweed

Most mid- to high intertidal rocky places on the outer coast host Fucus distichus, but its extent and appearance is variable. The images in this entry provide a peek at just some of the variety you might see in selected habitats on exposed Oregon shores.

In the scene below, Fucus perches atop the high rocks above the mussel beds and breakers.

A seascape with high intertidal rocks covered by seaweed in the foreground and mussel-covered rocks in the mid-zone. Beyond that, the surf zone. Cloudy sky.

Out here on the exposed surf-swept rocks, Fucus is likely to be interspersed with Cladophora, Endocladia, Mastocarpus, Pelvetiopsis, and other mid- to high intertidal associates.

Some small Fucus among other mid-to high intertidal seaweeds, barnacles and limpets.
Closeup on the inflated branch tips of Fucus. Acorn barnacles share the scene.
Fucus in a diverse mid- to high intertidal community.
Fucus in a community of mid- to high intertidal barnacles and seaweeds.
A tuft of Endocladia muricata among Fucus and barnacles.
Fucus among other mid- to high intertidal seaweeds.
Fucus among other mid- to high intertidal seaweeds and barnacles.


By contrast, the high wall shown below seems a bit protected. Its northwest exposure may deflect, somewhat, what otherwise might be direct hits from the most forceful of winter’s storm- generated surf, but that’s just a guess. Either way, even though it can’t escape the higher surf of late fall, winter, and spring, I feel like it gets more spray and splash than surf much of the year. In a wonderful example of high intertidal zonation, the wall hosts a narrow but notable band of Fucus.

A band of Fucus between two bands of green on a rock wall.

Below, are a few closer-up scenes highlighting Fucus and a few of its neighbors on the wall and its immediate surroundings.

A band of Fucus in a community of seaweeds dwelling on a vertical rock wall.
A dense stand of Fucus on a vertical rock wall.
A few small tufts of Fucus among other high intertidal seaweeds and a few acorn barnacles.
Some small Fucus with expanded blade tips.
Fucus in a diverse mid- to high intertidal community.
Fucus blades emerge from a bed of dark (seaweed) tubes.


Lush stands of Fucus are most likely in areas that are a bit protected or set back away from the full force of pounding surf, as illustrated in the scene below from the central Oregon coast.

A rockscape largely cloaked in rockweed Fucus.

In such places, Fucus can grow large and lush, sometimes in fairly extensive stands.

A dense bed of Fucus.
Closeup of 20-30 rockweed Fucus blades (or more), some with reproductive structures on the blade tips, some without.
Closeup of several rockweed Fucus branches mostly without expanded branch tips.
Closeup of the expanded tip of a rockweed Fucus blade. More blades in the background.


Drift Fucus washes up abundantly on sandy beaches where, just like on the rocks, its variety doesn’t disappoint, and weathering adds even more visual breadth.

Closeup on a small clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Closeup on a branch of drift Fucus resting on rain-dimpled sand sand.
A somewhat dried out clump of drift Fucus and a pebble resting on the sand.
A fresh clump of drift Fucus with expanded branch tips rests on the sand.
Closeup on a portion of a clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Closeup on a portion of a clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Closeup of a frond of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
Closeup of a small clump of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
A drifted clump of Fucus rests on the sand next to a jellyfish fragment.
Closeup of a spray of Fucus with reproductive structures naturally laid out, almost as if on purpose for display, on wet sand.
A sprig of drift Fucus resting on the sand.
A small mass of drift focus resting on the sand.
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Pelvetiopsis Dwarf Rockweed

Pelvetiopsis is most at home on the surf-swept outer coast where it can be abundant on the tops of high intertidal rocks. It’s not too common to find drift Pelvetiopsis on the beaches.

Surf breaks over the edge of a seaweed-covered rocky bench.
Atop the rocks | Central Oregon
A surf-swept rock covered in seaweed, barnacles, and a few mussels. Maritime forest in the background. Cloudy sky.
In a mixed community (greenish, center screen)
The top of a high intertidal rock covered in seaweed.
Pelvetiopsis on a high intertidal rock
An intimate high intertidal seaweed scene.
Sharing space with Fucus and Mazzaella parksii
Pelvetiopsis in a diverse intertidal assemblage.
Pelvetiopsis can creep down among the mussels
Semi-closeup on Pelvetiopsis cascading down a rock. Fucus photobombs at the left-hand edge of the frame.
Pelvetiopsis cascade


Before leaving Fucus and Pelvetiopsis, here’s a labeled comparative photograph from April of them living together on a high intertidal rock. Below that, try your hand at an unlabeled image from August.

A comparative shot of Fucus and Pelvetiopsis
Unlabeled scene of Fucus and Pelvetiopsis on a rock wall.
Begin quiz here
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Brown cylinders

On northern Oregon shores, brown cylinders like those shown below are represented by Melanosiphon, Scytosiphon, and maybe Hapterophycus. (Any others?) So far, the cylinders I’ve observed are unresolved mysteries.

The five images below are from March on a high vertical wall that gets spray, splash, and a rare winter dunking. From a distance, large patches are distinctly yellowish-brown. Up close, individual cylinders vary from dark yellowish-brown to dark reddish-brown, and some cylinders are noticeably twisted.

A vertical wall with a zone of bright green gutted with a patch of brown tubes below
Brown cylinders, just below Ulva intestinalis
Some strands, hanging down
Sharing space with acorn barnacles and ribbed limpets
Strands illuminated by late afternoon sun on a high zone wall
Dark cylinders range from reddish-brown to yellowish-brown
Tufts of cylinders hanging down
Superficially, The cylinders look solid
Cylinders showing variation in the amount of twisting
Some of the cylinders are twisted, some loosely coiled, and some are straight


The three images in the set below are from late May, high in the intertidal zone. Here, the cylinders are much shorter and redder than the examples above, and there’s not much twisting. In addition, the tufts grow in a matrix of high intertidal Ulva (I think), somewhat isolated from each other, so at a distance, there aren’t visible patches.

A headland's lower reaches covered in a carpet of Ulva. The surf zone in the background.
Reddish-brown cylinders (not visible) are scattered in the Ulva
Kind of a closeup with tufts angst a background of Ulva.
Reddish-brown tufts interspersed in a carpet of Ulva
Closeup of reddish-brown cylinders, Ulva, Pyropia, and acorn barnacles.
A reddish tuft set off against the green of Ulva


The three images in the set below are from late May in a tiny pool on a high boulder surrounded by sand and cobbles. The cylinders are distinctly straw-colored and hollow, and they bear constrictions.

A tiny pool perched on a ledge, crowded with straw-colored cylinders
Straw-colored cylinders in a tiny high pool
Intimate view of straw-colored cylinders
Scytosiphon-like cylinders in a high intertidal pool
Floating in finger bowl the cylinders look hollow
Straw-colored cylinders, sparsely constricted


And it’s not unheard of to find drifted straw-colored cylinders on the beach.

A tuft of drifted straw-colored cylinders resting on the sand.
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Petalonia

In these parts, as far as I know, it’s just Petalonia fascia.

Blades among the barnacles
Petalonia high on a vertical wall
Submerged blades in a sand-filled pool.
Petalonia in a sand-filled pool
Limp blades on a barnacle-covered rock.
The blades are limp when exposed
Limp blades on a barnacle-covered rock are so thin they show the barnacles beneath.
Blades so thin they’re see-through
Submerged blades at on the edge of a pool.
Blades clinging to the edge of a tidepool
A row of four Petalonia blades above a row of Phaeostrophion blades set up in a finger bowl.
Petalonia (top row) in a finger bowl
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Leathesia Sea Cauliflower

There are other saclike epiphytic browns, but I’m pretty sure the examples below are Leathesia, and in these parts that would be L. marina. Sea cauliflower can live attached to rocks or it can live the life of an epiphyte.

Leathesia in the foreground, high rocks and blown out sky in the distance.
Leathesia marina’s surface convolutions resemble those of a human brain | Central Oregon
Close up, looking down on Leathesia and Ulva.
Leathesia, sharing its space | Central Oregon
Closeup on Leathesia illuminated by early sun.
Morning sunlight will absolutely light up Leathesia | Central Oregon
A drift strand of sargassum with Leathsia.
Leathesia as an epiphyte on drifted Sargassum
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Soranthera ulvoidea Studded Sea Balloon

Soranthera is an epiphyte on Neorhodomela and Odonthalia. It’s not too uncommon to find Soranthera on the beach, attached to its drifted host.

Lot's of golden Soranthera globes
The golden globes of Soranthera | Central Oregon
Just a small drifted mass on wet sand
If its host drifts, Soranthera goes along for the ride
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Analipus japonicus Fir Branch

I don’t think I’ve bumped into Analipus on the northern Oregon shores I’ve visited. Hence, the examples shown below are from central Oregon, where it’s been easier for me to find. Analipus has many common names; one is bottle brush—my sketch looks like a bottle brush, so I must mention that. Look for Analipus in the mid-intertidal (maybe a little higher or lower).

Habitat shot of Analipus perched atop a low boulder in a mix of sand and rock.
Analipus (perched center) in a maze of intertidal rocks and sand
A scraggly early season tuft
A cute tuft trying to get its “needles” going
A cascade of Analipus amid Ulva, Leathsia, and Neorhodomela.
Analipus and some mid intertidal companions
A lush tuft of Analipus stands out on a mid-intertidal rock
A lovely spray
A tuft of Analipusdraped down a rock
Fir branch, fir needle, sea fir, bottle brush, matsumo…it’s your call
Closeup on analipus “needles.”
The needles
Analipus branches emerge from a sand-covered crust.
The main branches are tubes arising from a crust (mostly covered in sand here)
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Postelsia palmaeformis Sea Palm

It’s a treat to see stubby sea palms bobbing and poking through wicked surf. They live on exposed rocky places where reaching them is often tricky, even on the lowest of tides. Postelsia is fairly common as sea wrack.

A lone sea palm, surf zone in the background
The cutest little sea palm | Central Oregon
Looking out to sea, past a group of nine Postelsia
Postelsia palmaeformis exposed by a very low tide | Central Oregon
A drift clump with all the parts, illuminated by early sun, on wet sand
Drifted Postelsia is pretty common and always lovely in the drift
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Hedophyllum sessile Sea Cabbage

Depending on the age of the blades and wave exposure, Hedophyllum will give you different looks (see below). Nevertheless, it always lacks a noticeable stipe, which is kind of a fun trait and it might help with identification. I don’t see much drifted sea cabbage on the beaches.

Exposed at low tide, reflecting early sunlight
Cabbage-like crinkly blades
Surrounded by corallines
Blades with smooth and crinkly characteristics
Smooth, strap-like blades hanging down a coralline-covered wall
Smooth strap-like blade from a surf-exposed site
Hanging blades illuminated by early sunlight
Common to see H. sessile draped down a rock wall | Central Oregon
Peering down into the holdfast between blades
Sea cabbage blades arise without a stipe
Drying blades hanging down at low tide
Exposed and drying | Central Oregon
Morning sun backlights a crinkly blade
Morning sun can light up Hedophyllum sessile | Central Oregon
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Egregia menziesii Feather Boa

Feather boa is common on mid to low intertidal rocks and it’s pretty common as sea wrack too.

Long strands of feather boa drape down over a rock onto the sand at low tide
Cascading onto the sand
Young blades, no floats, limp on the rocks at low tide
Young blades
intimate shot of an older blade
A broad stipe
On sand, in the drift line
Fresh drift
Fresh drift on sand
Feather boa
Older drifted blades on sand
Drying in the drift line
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Phaeostrophion irregulare Sand-Scoured False Kelp

Sand everywhere, but you see seaweed poking through, covering a rock jutting out of the sand
Phaeostrophion irregulare comes by its common name honestly (at least the sand-scoured part)
Phaeostrophion sharing a rock with Plocamium; Ahnfeltia nearby, poking through the sand
Phaeostrophion sharing space with neighbors that can handle scouring
Foreground rock covered in sand-scored false kelp; beach sand and the surf zone in the background. A few large outcrops protruding from the sand in the distance. Cloudy skies.
The Phaeostrophion-covered rock in the foreground is periodically buried under sand
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Alaria marginata Winged Kelp

Looking along a long Alaria blade resting on sand at low tide. Vantage from the distal end of the blade.
A pile or jumble of limp Alaria blades exposed by a low tide.
From the central Oregon shore


The broad midrib never gets old.

The base of three Alaria blades with bright midribs and wings in a shallow, clear tidepool.
Central Oregon


A not-super-great photograph of the wings, short stipe, and holdfast with finger-like projections.


In exposed places with low rocks and active sand, Alaria can experience partial seasonal sand burial.

The distal end of several Alaria blades lying limp on the sand.


Alaria is pretty common in the drift.

The whole thing, not super fresh, on wet beach sand in bright morning sun.
Drifted Alaria marginata
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Costaria costata Five-Rib Kelp

In the two images immediately below, Fresh Costaria is mixed among a large mass of drift Nereocystis.

Fresh blades of Costaria costata, five-rib kelp, in a tangle of drift Nereocystis stipes.
Closeup of a blade, stipe and a partial holdfast of Costaria costata, five-rib kelp, in a tangle of drift Nereocystis stipes and holdfasts.


Here, weathered drift Costaria among more common Alaria would be easy to miss. (In fact, at first glance, I did pass it by.)

Weathered blades of drift Costaria and Alaria rest of the sand.
A tangle of weathered drift Costaria and Alaria blades rest on the sand.
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Laminaria setchellii

It takes a proper low tide to go eye to eye with a stand of Laminaria setchellii

Laminaria setchellii draped down a rock wall among other seaweeds and invertebrates.


The image below is one of the early photographs I took of Laminaria setchellii. It’s not too good, but I’m a fan of any scene with a view from the low intertidal up to the forest above, and beyond. (And I do like the little cluster of Laminaria setchellii  poking out from the surfgrass.)

A small cluster of Laminaria setchellii poking out of the surfgrass at low tide.


Showing off Laminaria setchellii

Eye to eye with a stand of Laminaria setchellii.
Morning backlight and some glare on a closeup view of Laminaria setchellii hanging down along a vertical rock wall.
A close view from above a small cluster of Laminaria setchellii on a rock with blades draped down into clear water with a sandy bottom below.
Laminaria setchellii draped down a rock wall among other seaweeds and invertebrates.
Glare and backlight from morning sun on Laminaria setchellii hanging over a vertical wall.


I like this view from above illustrating a Laminaria setchellii forest waving in a sand-filled pool.

A miniature forest of Laminaria setchellii submerged in a sand-filled pool.


The holdfast

A few Laminaria setchellii holdfasts. Anemones, crustose reds, leafy reds, tube worms, and even a granular clawed crab make a colorful scene.
Closeup of a Laminaria setchellii holdfast. A lined chiton shares the scene.
Closeup of two Laminaria setchellii holdfasts. Giant green anemones share the scene.


Compared to some other big browns, on the beaches I visit most, Laminaria setchellii doesn’t seem super common in the wrack line. Below are two examples I laid out on the sand.

A drifted Laminaria setchellii laid out on the sand, holdfast, stipe, blade, and all.
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Laminaria sinclairii

In northern Oregon, if I’m reading Kozloff right, Laminaria sinclairii is a good marker for mean lower low water. You can see it and judge for yourself in the scene of mid- to low intertidal zonation shown below.

A scene of mid- to low intertidal zonation reveals a band of Laminaria sinclairii.
Low tide reveals a band of Laminaria sinclairii


Laminaria sinclairii is known for its many stipes arising from rhizome-like holdfasts.

Closeup of Laminaria sinclairii on a rock, illustrating numerous stipes.
Closeup of numerous Laminaria sinclairii stipes and blades draped down the side of a rock.
Closeup of numerous Laminaria sinclairii stipes and blades draped down the side of a rock.
Closeup of numerous Laminaria sinclairii stipes and blades draped down the side of a rock.
Closeup of a tangle of Laminaria sinclairii blades.


For the love of Laminaria (sinclairii)

Closeup of a tangle of Laminaria sinclairii blades.
Laminaria sinclairii atop a low intertidal rock.
Closeup of Laminaria sinclairii stipes and blades atop a low intertidal rock.
Closeup of numerous Laminaria sinclairii stipes and blades draped down the side of a rock. A sand-filled tidepool in the background.


It’s not terribly uncommon to find Laminaria sinclairii washed up on the beach.

Drifted Laminaria sinclairii, holdfast, stipes, and blades, resting on the sand.
A drifted tangle of Laminaria sinclairii, holdfast, stipe, and blades, resting on the sand.


I love the look of this freshly-beached example, holdfast and all, laid out on clean sand in the early morning light.

About five stipes worth, laid out on nice clean sand; view from blades in the foreground to holdfast
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Lessoniopsis litoralis

You can’t really fault anyone who calls Lessoniopsis litoralis tree kelp.

Detailed view of a single Lessoniopsis litoralis plant, holdfast, stipe, branches, and blades, overhanging a vertical rock wall. In the background, a tidepool and backlit intertidal rocks.


You know you’re on an exposed shore when you run into Lessoniopsis litoralis.

Lessoniopsis litoralis in a rocky surf-swept setting. Cloudy sky.
Closeup of two Lessoniopsis litoralis plants on a surfgrass-covered rock.


Lessoniopsis is known for its Y-branches.

A closeup of the Y-branches of Lessoniopsis litoralis. Decent look at the holdfast too. In the background, seaweed-covered rocks.
A closeup of the Y-branches of Lessoniopsis litoralis.


No such thing as too many looks at Lessoniopsis

In the foreground, a closeup of one Lessoniopsis litoralis plant draped over a vertical rock. In the background, other brown seaweeds.
Lessoniopsis litoralis stipes and blades illuminated by morning light. Laminaria setchellii appears at the top left and bottom right of the scene.


While not super common on the beach or in the wrack line, drifted specimens of Lessoniopsis litoralis appear now and then.

A closeup on a single drifted Lessoniopsis litoralis plant, holdfast, stipe, brances, and blades, resting on the sand. The holdfast is covered in small red seaweed blades.
A tangled mass of Lessoniopsis litoralis, illuminated by early light, rests on the sand.


The Lessionopsis holdfast can get a grip and keep it. This one managed to carry a few pounds of barnacles up onto the beach.

A drifted Lessoniopsis litoralis holdfast, stipes, and blades. Attached to the extensive holdfast is a weighty mass of barnacles.


Remants

Tattered branch tips of drift Lessoniopsis litoralis remains rise above swash-scoured sand.
A broken and battered Lessoniopsis litoralis branch rests in the swash zone.


Spreading out the lanky specimen, below, seemed like a good idea.

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Stephanocystis osmundacea Bladder Chain

My home beaches are a bit north of bladder chain strongholds. I only know it from the drift.

Piece of drift bladder chain on the sand, sea stack in the background
Stephanocystis osmundacea, a little worse for wear
Drift bladder chain on beach sand
Drift bladder chain, Stephanocystis osmundacea | Coquille Point, Oregon
Drift bladder chain on beach sand
Chains of bead-like bladders | Coquille Point, Oregon
Small, tattered fragment of drift bladder chain on sand
Bladder chain Stephanocystis osmundacea, a little north of its Oregon strongholds
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Sargassum muticum

Not really at home in exposed surf-swept settings, it can be dense in protected waters and semi-protected pools. Drifted Sargassum is common on beaches.

A lush curvy frond on sand
Fresh drift sargassum can be really attractive in the drift
A drifted tuft of sargassum on beach sand
Sargassum muticum has lots small floats
Sargassum in a semi-protected tidepool
A profusion of receptacles in a June tidepool | Central Oregon
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Desmarestia Flattened Acid Leaf

I’ll use the common name flattened acid leaf in this entry until I master distinguishing the flattened forms (e.g., Desmarestia ligulata, D. herbacea). My examples are from low intertidal rocks or fragments that washed up on beaches.

Below, flattened acid leaf cascades down the rocks among other seaweeds illustrating how limp the blades are. From a distance, the thin, limp blades tend to blend in on the rocks, where they are easy to miss. (However, as shown a few galleries down, you will notice them when they lay out on clean sand!)

A low tide scene with a car-sized boulder in the foreground draped with seaweeds, including Desmarestia. In the background, coastal forest under cloudy skies.A low tide scene with a car-sized boulder in the foreground draped with seaweeds, including Desmarestia
A low tide scene. In the foreground, a seaweed-covered rock hosts a starfish. In the midground, Large boulders draped with seaweeds, including Desmarestia. In the background, coastal forest under cloudy skies.
Green arrows point out Desmarestia


Closer up, the golden or olive-green blades stand out, but they are likely to mat together, obscuring their fine detail or adding to their beauty, depending on your frame of reference.

Flat acid leaf's golden blades stand out among wavy red blades hanging down a slightly overhanging rock face.
A tangle of olive-green blades on a vertical rock face encrusted with crustose corallines, red blades, and Codium setchellii.
Closeup on a sheet of limp brown blades covering a rock face.


Flat acid leaf’s finer details emerge when its branches float in shallow, sand-filled pools.

Flattened acid leaf in a quiet tidepool. There is a reflection of the spruce forest above, which more or less matches the flattened acid leaf.
Desmarestia and Sitka spruce meet in a sand-filled pool
One strand of flattened acid leaf suspended in a sand-filled pool.
Desmarestia in a low tidepool


Flattened acid leaf frequently lives in areas of active sand. Enough so that I feel like it’s tolerant of at least some scouring and some seasonal burial. Is this its habit, or just what’s available on the shores I frequent? Either way, it lays out so beautifully on the sand I can’t resist showing a few examples.

Several strands of flattened acid leaf laying out naturally on clean sand.
Several strands of flattened acid leaf laying out naturally on clean sand.
A good-sized flattened acid leaf branch emerging from the sand and laying out. Ulva's doing the same.


If you encounter enough flattened acid leaf washed up on the beaches, you’ll notice quite a bit of color and morphological variation. Intriguingly, I’ve seen “color changer” listed among the common names for Desmarestia herbacea, but I don’t know the context.

A couple of tangled rusty-brown strands and their branches on beach sand.
A reddish-brown central strand with short lateral branches laid out on clean beach sand.
A golden-caramel central strand with slender lateral branches laid out on clean beach sand.
A drifted tangle with a wide green central strand with long, wide green branches with dark brown tips. The tangle rests on clean beach sand.
The upper left-hand and lower right-hand images are from the central Oregon coast


The examples below have a markedly wide main blade and wide branches with midribs.

Brown flattened acid lead strands with a broad main branch and long, wide lateral branches exposed by the low tide, hanging down a vertical rock face with their tips resting on the bottom of a surge channel.
Brown to golden-brown flattened acid lead strands with a broad main branch and long, wide lateral branches exposed by the low tide, hanging down a vertical rock face on the edge of a surge channel.
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Pterygophora californica

Pterygophora is mostly subtidal in Oregon.

Holdfast, stipe, and spore-bearing blades laid out on coarse beach sand
Pterygophora californica also goes by walking, old growth, woody-stemmed, and stalked kelp
Closeup on the tope of the stipe and blades,
The upper terminus of the stipe
Closeup on the top of the stipe and the blades
Two rows of blades
Bull kelp anchored 2/3 up the Pterygophora stipe
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Macrocystis

As far as I know, my home beaches in northern Oregon are a lot of miles from the nearest Macrocystis beds, but drift masses wash up fairly abundantly on the beaches. An interesting bit of Macrocystis trivia is that it’s the seaweed featured on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Logo.

A small Macrocystis drift mass rests on the sand.
Closeup on a drift Macrocystis float and blades behind.
Closeup on two drift Macrocystis blades and their floats resting on the sand.
A float at the base of each blade
Macrocystis blade with hitchhiking pelagic gooseneck barnacles, probably Lepas pacifica, rests on the sand.
Blade with hitchhiking pelagic gooseneck barnacles
Closeup on a large mass of drift Macrocystis stipes, blades, and floats.
One drifted Macrocystis frond rests on the sand along with beached and bleached Velella velella by-the-wind sailors.
On the shore with beached and bleached Velella


Closeups of the everchanging form of drift Macrocystis. (If there is a constant, it’s that there’ll come a time when beach hoppers participate in drift Macrocystis breakdown (upper right-hand panel).

Closeup of a few drift Macrocystis blades.


Macrocystis, drifted and dying on the shore, evokes a range of emotions, intimacy among them.

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Nereocystis luetkeana Bull Kelp

Bull kelp is subtidal, pretty much so, but it’s important to intertidal and beach ecosystems as sea wrack, and it serves as a seasonal source of emotion, beauty, wonder, and curiosity for humans.

Three freshly deposited hefty bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana stipes with blades and holdfasts rest on the sand.
Beach hoppers, other scavengers, and humans take notice when a bull kelp drift mass washes ashore
A long tangled bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana drift mass on beach sand. Surf zone in the background. Clear sky.
This mass was 112 feet long
A heavy mass of bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana stipes and scores of holdfasts resting on the sand.
All stipes and holdfasts
In fresh drift bull kelp, you get to see the blades originating at the pneumatocyst (float)
Closeup on about a dozen well worn drift bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana stipes and floats.
A line-up of older bull kelp stipes and pneumatocysts (floats); the blades are eroded away
Two drifted holdfasts and stipes resting on the sand. Cobbles in the background.
The bull kelp holdfast
Remnant drift bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana holdfast clinging to a rock resting on the sand.
Has enough grip to drag large cobbles and even small boulders onto the beach
A beach-level view from the float to the base of the stipe curving off in the distance. Rocks and headlands in the distance.
Drift bull kelp always gets a second look


Below, the arrow points out a remnant sorus on a tattered blade.

Closeup of a bull kelp (Nereocystis) bulb and tattered blades resting on the sand. One of the blades still hosts a remnant sorus.


There’s something intimate about drifted and decaying bull kelp

A single drift bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeanastipe and float decaying on clean beach sand; A few rocks jutting out of the sand and the surf zone in the background
A decaying drift bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana float rests on the sand. In the background a tangle of stipes.


By breaking down drift bull kelp, beach hoppers play a prominent role in one of shoreline’s most dramatic cycles of life.

Beach hopper workings in the sand along the edges of an old bull kelp stipe.
Beach hopper workings in the sand along the edges of an old bull kelp stipe
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I think this is Dictyota.

Drift Dictyota (I think) spread out on the sand
Drift Dictyota laid out on beach sand
Drifted Drifted Dictyota resting on beach sand
Drift Dictyota I The expanded regions are reproductive?
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References

Abbott, I. A. and G. J. Hollenberg. 1976. Marine Algae of California. Stanford University Press.

Druehl, L. D. and B. E. Clarkston. 2016. Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide To Common Seaweeds of the Pacific Coast. 2nd ed. Harbour Publishing Co.

Harbo, R. M. 2011. Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. 2nd ed. Harbour Publishing Co.

Kozloff, E. N. 1993. Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast. 3rd ed. University of Washington Press.

Lamb, A. and B. P. Hanby. 2005. Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing.

Mondragon, J., and J. Mondragon. 2010. Seaweeds of the Pacific Coast. Shoreline Press.

Sept. J. D. 2019. The New Beachcomber’s Guide to the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing.


Web Resources

Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS— Brown Seaweeds page. Accessed January 28, 2025.

Seaweeds of Alaska— Seaweed: Ochrophyta. Accessed January 28, 2025.

The Seaweed Sorter app is fun and very useful!


I updated this page on January 28, 2025.

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