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Red Rock Crust
28 May 2025
Big Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada.
Tide: - 0.3 foot low at 08:16am PDT (measured at Ucluelet Tidal Station)
Weather: Mostly clear, wind variable 5 - 10 km/hour, sea light chop, moderate westerly swell, humidity 81%, 15 ˚C.
Moon: Waxing Crescent, (4.1%, 2 days); Next phase, First Quarter, 2 June 2025 at 8:40pm PDT; Previous phase, New Moon, 26 May 2025 at 8:02pm PDT.
Figure 1: A pebble is home for Hildenbrandia occidentalis – this crustose red alga is a very slow growing seaweed that has a compelling sheen or luster seen with any light; in the shade it can look almost black. It is also very tough, impervious to denting or being scraped away. Big Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 28, 2025. Photo ID 27832 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com
Person 1:
“Not going to share
anything
with you.”
“Go away – don’t bother me.”
Person 2:
Such deep looking red color..., it has a richness to it that seems deep and impenetrable.
It feels like there must be much down in there but it cannot hardly ever be accessed – something like looking into the night sky and trying to see the end of this universe.
One aspect of the energy of this seaweed is that it is ‘covering’ something – it is a crust that grows close to rock surfaces of all kinds covering them with its presence.
So it is a covering, yes, but still there is the impression that there is something down in there also, something within the covering, and even though the covering is thin in physical size, it seems like it has notable depth to it.
The covering itself has characteristics – even though it physically is not really very thick at all (in fact a healthy thick H. occidentalis crust would measure in at about seven tenths of one millimeter thick) it seems rich, dark, impenetrable and somehow beautiful, too.
It is also hard, a hard covering that cannot be dented, squeezed or scraped away. The hardness is distracting, diverting, and averting others from the inner depths that will then not be fathomed.
Figure 2: Coating a more textured rock surface, this patch of Hildenbrandia occidentalis inhabits a ‘sea cave’ within a large boulder. This seaweed can actually take up into its own thallus some particles of rock from the substrate; at time that gives texture to the crust also. Botany Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 28, 2025. Photo ID 27833 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com
Second Immersion:
Person 1:
The concept of ‘covering’ caught my attention.
Cover up. Creates layers of stories and distractions. Creates new ones along the frontiers as it expands.
Protecting itself from scrutiny. Protecting its friends and colleagues from perceived harm.
Darkness..., living its lies. Can’t tell the difference between truth and deceit. Lost its way morally.
Changeable personality. Changes its act to remain confusing/enigmatic. Confuses itself, unable to know its real self.
There’s a feeling of heaviness in this seaweed.
Person 2:
It is an odd juxtaposition, this alga covers things in such a way that it is “on top of” other things..., so it is out in the open and visible, whereas the thing it covers is then hidden from view. AND, Hildenbrandia occidentalis itself has aspects that it keeps hidden in the deep dense depths of its own being.
Dense..., yes, that’s the feeling of the red color and I think it is a fair factual statement about the actual morphology of this seaweed, too. It grows vertically as well as horizontally but the increments are minuscule. So their cells are densely packed – this makes them tough, hard, unmovable once they are in place. It also gives them a sheen like I’ve seen on a finely finished woodworking piece..., where the craftsperson has laid down layer after layer after layer of thin varnish to build up a soft glow or luster. This takes time to do, and patience also.
Hildenbrandia occidentalis has this kind of energy; they don’t mind that things can require time to unfold. They also know something about one type of strength, the type that is firm and unbending, like a shield that cannot be penetrated. They can wholeheartedly use this kind of strength because they choose to grow on things that are also firm and unbending – namely rocks! So, they don’t need to worry about having flexibility. I wonder if this seaweed has troubles changing its attitudes, its views, its way of approaching things?
The soft glow or luster or sheen – this hints that there is beauty to behold, but it is not overt. In fact it is covert. But it exists, all the same.
Almost black..., the red can look almost black, especially because this seaweed likes the lower or subtidal regions where there is less light to illuminate them. And of course, it can never be seen backlit, like some of the many foliose blades of marine macro algae. Considering this almost black tone of red, I wondered, do you try to absorb every bit of light that comes to you and then also try to hold onto it too, Hildenbrandia? What are you doing with this light and why do you need it for extended periods of time? It doesn’t seem like you are greedy or really even needy, but it does seem that perhaps you are a bit slow. Slow to learn, slow to understand, and slow to integrate. Perhaps you want to do this to great depths and so you have patience. This then is a very good combination of traits – slowness and patience.
Your margins, the edges of the continuous crust that you form, they seem like they could be a point of vulnerability, yet even there it seems that you are tough. You cannot be scraped from the rock, in the middle of you, or at your edges. This is a pretty masterful type of adhesive ability you have. Adhesive..., holds onto..., slow to work with things yet a strong desire to do so fully.
Figure 3: A closer view of Hildenbrandia occidentalis – the ‘covering’ created by crustose algae sometimes really elicits questions such as, what is beneath you? Or what are you comprised of? We see only the top surface, and with this particular species, we cannot see into it at all. Botany Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 28, 2025. Photo ID 27834 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com
Discussion:
Stories, lies, confusion between truth and deceit. This seaweed is very tough, you could say they have a very “thick skin” and from this perspective we pondered the inclination they have to tell stories or lies; we felt that sometimes they do this because they feel this will protect others from possible hurt (help those who don’t have such a thick skin). At times they also predict that if they told the truth then others might want to respond, get involved, extend some help to them, and often Hildenbrandia can feel averse to being helped.
In their ‘depths’ much can be contained or unrevealed. The capacity to reveal themselves is there for Hildenbrandia and if used, it is done with caution and also has the quality of slowness to it. The term ‘trickle feed’ fits. They let out a little, measure the response, then possibly let out a little more, but always reserve the option to stop any further revealing at any point.
Dense – this can involve them not wanting to be seen, and sometimes not being able to see for themselves. Not willing to look..., or they can attempt to look but then can’t actually see – because there are too many layers obscuring or clouding their ‘viewing apparatus’. Compare the idea of wearing tinted sunglasses to wearing protective goggles made of very dark glass such as those worn by welders. Such goggles would be useless for seeing what’s going on in regular life. So others who interact with Hildenbrandia may note this limitation and find that they can seem oblivious at times – oblivious because they simply haven’t seen the same things. For Hildenbrandia obliviousness can be a protection; sure, they don’t notice some things some of the time, yet they persist really very well – living an excellent life inherent with their own inner glow.
Figure 4: This photo is magnified much larger than life sized. It shows the depth of coloration to this seaweed as well as some hints about texture. Big Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 28, 2025. Photo ID 27835 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com
Biology & Natural History Information:
Description:
Thallus of Hildenbrandia occidentalis is a deep red to red black un-calcified crust that adheres tightly to rock. It has irregular margins and grows slowly to an indefinite size. H. occidentalis can look similar to a closely related species, Hildenbradia rubra, and one way it can be distinguished is by microscopic examination of the tetrasporangia; H. rubra has its tetrasporangia irregularly divided and H. occidentalis has them zonately divided. In the field H. rubra tends to be thinner and even transparent, while Hildenbrandia occidentalis tends to be thicker and darker. Thickness with this species is certainly a relative term as at its maximum it reaches measurements of only 700 µm (0.7 mm thick). Cells are rectangular in shape and very small; having many cells create many cell walls and many cell walls yields toughness to the overall organism. Few herbivores graze this alga and little can remove it in other ways from the substrate it is affixed to. The crust will often incorporate tiny bits of the substrate into its own thallus, especially if it is growing on ‘softer’ rock. This alga grows slowly and is a poor competitor; however, it can persist in areas (zones and microhabitats) where few other algae can survive. It also can survive for notably long periods of time underneath other things including marine animals, other seaweeds including coralline crusts, and shifting cobble or pebbles; it does so by reducing its metabolism (from its already slow pace) and resting in a temporary state of suspended animation.
Habitat:
This perennial crustose alga grows on rocks of all shapes and sizes, typically from the mid or low intertidal zone and continuing on down sub-tidally to at least 21 meters.
North Pacific Distribution:
A widely distributed species, Hildenbrandia occidentalis occurs in Japan, Russia, Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, California, Mexico and the Galápagos Islands. In the Atlantic Islands it occurs in the Canary Islands; in Europe it has been found in France, Portugal and Spain.
Remarks:
This genus of algae contains 14 marine species and at least 5 closely related forms are also found in freshwater. Occurring in many parts of the world, some that would be considered eastern, it is useful to note that the type locality of H. occidentalis is Lands End, San Francisco, California, suggesting why ‘western’ was used in the species name.
Classification:
Empire: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Biliphyta
Infrakingdom: Rhodaria
Phylum: Rhodophyta
Subphylum: Eurhodophytina
Class: Florideophyceae
Subclass: Hildenbrandiophycidae
Order: Hildenbrandiales
Family: Hildenbrandiaceae
Genus: Hildenbrandia
Species: Hildenbrandia occidentalis Setchell 1917
Former name(s):
Heterotypic synonyms: Hildenbrandia yessoensis Yendo 1920; Hildenbrandia occidentalis var. lustanica Ardré 1959; Hildenbrandia occidentalis var. yessoensis (Yendo) Ardré 1959.
