epa07249014 Starfish attached to a rock beneath a Kelp forest in the Indian Ocean, False Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, 26 December 2018. Huge Kelp forests can extend up to three kilometres offshore of South Africa’s cape coastal waters. Kelp are the giants of the seaweed world being the fastest growing algae sometimes exceeding fifteen meters in length. The Kelp forests influence the waters around them by calming the waves, slowing the water and thus allowing it to be warmed by the sun. This creates a unique marine environment in which thousands of species thrive beneath these giant tree like structures. Four species of Kelp occur in Southern Africa with the largest being sea bamboo, Ecklonia maxima. EPA/NIC BOTHMA
Dostawca: PAP/EPA.
Underwater life in Kelp forest
