Marine Botany

Seaweeds just can't win sometimes. When one thinks of the ocean, generally the big poster children like whales and dolphins come to mind, and to a lesser extent, fish and other small animals. Even massive kelp forests are praised, not for the kelp itself, but for all the animals that live there. When visiting the beach, its common to hear a shriek as someone's leg becomes the unwitting, entangled victim of a slimy rope of kelp. Heck, even their name has negative connotations, they're not sea "plants", they're "weeds". According to dictionary.com, a weed is "any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted".

Well, in one of our classes, Marine Botany, we're beginning to learn to appreciate all that seaweeds do, and how they should be valued much more than they are. Marine Botany initially terrified me. So many species of algae, and I had to know the names of all of them! They're just algae, who cares? However, as the class progressed and I stopped panicking and started examining, I found that algae were a lot more interesting than I initially had thought. Sure, its not a perfect relationship. I still occasionally find myself struggling to pay attention when Don explains the difference between two nearly identical red algae, but the algae tend to get me back in the form of slippery surfaces resulting in painful intertidal falls. However, we've learned how different algae define different ecosystems, and how they provide important habitats that allow all the animals we appreciate so much to thrive and grow.

Kelp forests, mangroves, sea grasses, and intertidal algae all play host to fascinating arrays of creatures. Even the algae we can't see, like diatoms and dinoflagellates, have huge global impacts, producing 50% of the world's oxygen. In this last week, I realized just how much I rely on something I formerly dismissed. My yogurt has Chondrus crispus in it, as does my toothpaste. Sushi, my favorite food, obviously relies on seaweed, Porphyra umbilicalis, commonly known as Nori. The ingredients on my shampoo bottle used to seem like a confusing jumble of chemicals, but upon further examination, I recognized that 4 species of algae I can easily find back home and here in Nahant helped my hair stay smooth. This semester, I've had to change my opinion on algae, from summer beach nuisance to humble, but mighty, ecosystem driver.