Beautiful kelp forests

AMAZING....

Last class we saw part of a ocean video, which had a segment on kelp forests. I was amazed and have never seen such a thing before and had to check it out.
"Kelp forests occur in cold, nutrient-rich water and are among the most beautiful and biologically productive habitats in the marine environment. They are found throughout the world in shallow open coastal waters, and the larger forests are restricted to temperatures less than 20ºC, extending to both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. A dependence upon light for photosynthesis restricts them to clear shallow water and they are rarely much deeper than 15-40m. The kelps have in common a capacity for some of the most remarkable growth rates in the plant kingdom."
I find it so fascinating that kelp can grow up to 2 feet a day and can reach lengths of more than a 100 feet. It really does look like an underwater rainforest. A kelp forest also has so many functions: it provides food, a place to hide, prevents sleeping otters from floating away when sleeping.

Many products we use today have kelp ingredients: algin, a substance extracted from kelp is an emulsifier added to ice cream, salad dressing, toothpaste, cosmetics and hundreds of other products, and the demand for kelp ingredients is growing.

Unfortunately many countries don't have regulations on how much kelp can be harvested. Pesticides from land water run-off kill species that live in these forests. As everything is interconnected, this imbalance affects these forests by removing parts of the food chain that help control species that feed on the kelp. I learn more everyday of how vast human impacts are no matter how small they seem. Not only that, but what a parasite humans are on the food chain of life and how important it is to recognize our utter dependence on the environment.