Kelp Fun Facts

Kelp can grow to be one hundred feet tall!

Kelp is a place to hide for many fishes.

Kelp is food for abalones such as the California Red Abalone.

Kelp forests make tons of oxygen for nearby waters.

Kelp has goopy stuff called phycocolloids in its cell walls. This is what keeps it flexible and slippery!

Kelp have gas-filled bladders called pneumatocysts. These bladders help hold the blades up closer to the ocean surface and thus the sun for better photosynthesis.

Sea urchins can devour 30 feet of kelp forest in a month. They can get out of control and munch through kelp like mad.

Sea Otters help keep the sea urchin population from eating up the kelp. 

Kelp doesn’t have roots like trees but anchors to hard surfaces like rock at sea bottom. 

Learn more about the kelp and find great resources.