Eager to learn more...seaweed

**Sea Star** · 07-27-2005, 08:41 AM

Kurt - Just what is "sargassum grass"? We have seen various types of seaweed in Seagrove and don't know what any of it is. Thanks!!

**Miss Kitty** · 07-27-2005, 09:13 AM

Good question! Is sargassum the spinachy stuff that smells to high heaven? How many kinds of seaweed does the area get and what are conditions that cause them to come in? I just love this message board...I get to learn new info to dazzle my family!

**kurt** · 07-27-2005, 09:25 AM

Off the coast of the United States, just south of Bermuda is the Sargasso Sea. This sea is the size of 2/3 of the United States. There, free-floating algae abounds. It is estimated that 7 million tons of live sargassum live in the sea! Sargassum reproduces by asexual means; a piece breaks off and becomes a separate plant.

Not surprisingly, this seaweed community supports a diverse ecosystem. Organisms found in the sea include shrimps, crabs, worms and fish. The sargassumfish is a fascinating creature that has adapted in a very specific and interesting way to live among the sargassum weeds.

Washed up on the beaches of SoWal, it creates a very effective means of trapping and holding sand that is deposited on the shore.

If you go offshore, especially during calm weather, you can find huge rafts of this plant. Mariners in the Atlantic who were caught in the "Doldrums", or zones of low winds, commonly found themselves surrounded by Sargassum. These plants have gas-filled balls which you can see in the picture that keep the plant afloat.

**Miss Kitty** · 07-27-2005, 09:29 AM

I don't think that is a pic of the stinky stuff! It was a darker green. Thanks for the info!

**Ocean Lover** · 07-27-2005, 09:40 AM

Wow, very interesting. Is there more on beach than usual?

**kurt** · 07-27-2005, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Ocean Lover

Wow, very interesting. Is there more on beach than usual?

There seems to be a lot more this year, no doubt from the storms. We got no June Grass this year which is the stuff that's more like spinach.

**Snapper Grabber** · 07-27-2005, 10:31 AM

Kurt, your knowledge about the environment of the Gulf is very impressive. Does it come from being a SoWal native? You seem to know everything!

**kurt** · 07-27-2005, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Snapper Grabber

Kurt, your knowledge about the environment of the Gulf is very impressive. Does it come from being a SoWal native? You seem to know everything!

:oops: I've been here awhile but I'm not a native. SoWal years are about the same as dog years.

**Sea Star** · 07-27-2005, 11:26 AM

Thanks, Kurt. I have seen the sargassum, just didn't know what it was. The air chambers remind me of the water hyacinths we have in our pond. The leaves of the plant grow from a large bubble-like part of the plant that keeps it afloat. Where do the little sticks with the knots on the ends come from? We find those on the beach a lot, and they are really quite interesting.

**kurt** · 07-27-2005, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by Sea Star

Thanks, Kurt. I have seen the sargassum, just didn't know what it was. The air chambers remind me of the water hyacinths we have in our pond. The leaves of the plant grow from a large bubble-like part of the plant that keeps it afloat. Where do the little sticks with the knots on the ends come from? We find those on the beach a lot, and they are really quite interesting.

If I'm thinking about what you're describing, they are a type of reed found in South Florida and Mexico. We get a lot of stuff that washes up from those parts that isn't native. Some of it very unusual, especially after storms.

**wintersbk** · 07-27-2005, 12:06 PM

This little guy really blends in! The Sargassum Fish.

**amylouky** · 07-27-2005, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by kurt

We got no June Grass this year which is the stuff that's more like spinach.

Wow.. so does this mean I can swim in the Gulf when I come down without coming out looking like Swamp Thing?
That would be wonderful! Sargassum I don't mind at all.. but that clingy stuff.. blech.

**FoX** · 07-27-2005, 02:28 PM

I'm a beachcomber and picking up garbage along the way is satisfying and sometimes rewarding. After one storm many years ago, a friend pulled a piece of plastic out of a pile of seaweed and it was a ziploc with about $20,000 worth of Colombian pesos in it.

**BeachDreamer** · 07-28-2005, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by FoX

I'm a beachcomber and picking up garbage along the way is satisfying and sometimes rewarding. After one storm many years ago, a friend pulled a piece of plastic out of a pile of seaweed and it was a ziploc with about $20,000 worth of Colombian pesos in it.

That's amazing Fox! So what happened then?

**aquaticbiology** · 07-28-2005, 07:00 PM

sargassum weed is good to eat and is really good for you - the balls themselves are the best as a salad garnish - wash 10 or so 'air bb's' per salad serving in fresh water but watch out for the ones with barnacles or calcite netting on them as those can be yechhy, crunchy and oystery at best. also watch out for little crabs on the plants you harvest and leave them behind. best is just to take the balls and leave the rest. and dont eat tons of it since they are from south of the border and there is no mercury pollution control down there

i bet i know what the money in the ziplock bag was for.

good to be home but lots of work to catch up on.

**kurt** · 07-28-2005, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by marinebiology451

sargassum weed is good to eat and is really good for you - the balls themselves are the best as a salad garnish - wash 10 or so 'air bb's' per salad serving in fresh water but watch out for the ones with barnacles or calcite netting on them as those can be yechhy, crunchy and oystery at best. also watch out for little crabs on the plants you harvest and leave them behind. best is just to take the balls and leave the rest. and dont eat tons of it since they are from south of the border and there is no mercury pollution control down there

i bet i know what the money in the ziplock bag was for.

good to be home but lots of work to catch up on.

That's great info - I will be trying some tomorrow!

**aquaticbiology** · 07-29-2005, 09:44 AM

The yecchy green stuff is probably Ulva, or sea lettuce. Just nasty. Makes a lot of oxygen though, in fact the green algaes produce about 90 something percent of the world's available oxygen along with the rainforests, if I remember my biology200's correctly. Not edible, unless, like a ghost crab, you have no real sense of smell or proper taste buds.

**Sea Star** · 08-03-2005, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by kurt

That's great info - I will be trying some tomorrow!

So Kurt, how were they? I'm not sure I want to try the air BBs.

**Smiling JOe** · 08-03-2005, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by Sea Star

So Kurt, how were they? I'm not sure I want to try the air BBs.

I remember a time when I did not want to try eating cow meat.

**Waterman** · 08-03-2005, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by Smiling JOe

I remember a time when I did not want to try eating cow meat.

Villiage Market has the BEST cow meat! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

**Renee2** · 08-04-2005, 06:55 PM

Smiling Joe, when did you not want to try cow meat?

**Smiling JOe** · 08-04-2005, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by Renee2

Smiling Joe, when did you not want to try cow meat?

It was quite a few years back, several years before the time when my favorite food was thoroughly cooked steak. e-gag. Now, I mostly like my cow meat bleeding in the middle, and my favorite food is not cow meat.