Laminaria sinclairii

Dense-clumped Kelp

9 May 2024

Tonquin Beach, Templar Channel, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada

Tide: 0.2 feet at 08:29 PDT (measured at Tofino Tidal Station)

Weather: Clear, wind variable 0-5 km/hour, sea smooth, very low southwesterly swell, humidity 75%, 11 ˚C.

Moon: Waxing Crescent (3.1%, 2 days); Next Phase, First Quarter, 15 May 2024 at 4:48am pm PDT; Previous Phase, New Moon, 7 May 2024 at 8:21 pm PDT.

Figure 1: This sand-immersed large boulder is only barely exposed at a very low tide. Growing from it are several species of macro algae including the kelp species, Laminaria sinclairii. Submerged and moving with the current, these brown algae looks like so many golden brown pennants waving in a stiff breeze. Tonquin Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 7, 2024. Photo ID 27674 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Person 1:

Industrious behind the scenes. That comes from considering the extensive rhizomatous mass that’s hidden from view, but there’s lots going on.

Its stipe and blade is a periscope out into the outer world (from the industrious base).

Person 2:

Lovely waving flags of golden brown algae in the turquoise water. More specifically, this seaweed reminds me of pennants extended from long and flexible wands.

Pennant (noun): a: any of various nautical flags tapering usually to a point or swallowtail and used for identification or signaling. b: a flag or banner longer in the fly (length) than in the hoist (height), especially one that tapers to a point.

Some blades have light ruffling along both margins of the mainly flat blade.

The ‘pennants’ are long and slender and they seem to love to wave in the water, undulating gently. They mark what the water action is very accurately; very much like a wind sock at an air strip.

Holdfast ‘fingers’ (haptera) are slender and interlace each other; in this location they are trying to anchor to an acorn barnacle-encrusted rock. It is a young clump that I can see above the waterline and as yet it has not grown the characteristic extensive mass of prostrate branched haptera; this is just developing.

The cylindrical stipes are uniform in size right from base to blade and they are flexible but not limp. Only one blade arises from each stipe, so where we had many blades waving in the water, there were an equal number of stipes affixing them to the substrate.

There is a graceful look to this seaweed, yes, grace is part of it, but there is also an elegant simplicity to it too. To my eye it is really “simply” beautiful. Of course, if you examine closely, some blades have a few tears, or holes eaten from them. The only part I’d exclude from this “look” is the cluster of haptera; its function is really rather “simply” to do its best to keep good hold of the substrate against the forces of ocean swells and surf and the corrosion of sand; as such, it has no concern for beauty but seems driven by a need for amassing size. Some haptera cover other haptera and in a mature grouping this creates a formidable tangle.

Later I found some clumps cast ashore, complete with barnacles they had been growing from – one example of a poor anchor place. It reminded me of one large clump of this seaweed found washed ashore at French Beach in the winter (see Figure 4).

It seems I’ve been shown that this is how they “end”..., they clump up together to such a ‘size’ that ultimately their collective “sail” can become too great for their anchor to hold, or their intertwined haptera/rhizomatous base becomes very large and breaks away or becomes an easy ‘target’ for collision with floating marine debris.

However, before they come to this “end’..., living in their group gives them much. It supports cooperative efforts and definitely a strong sense of kinship. The kinship mainly seems to be linked to common work themes or community activity based relationships. It’s not a one on one connection – a deep personal connection between only two individuals, but rather a kinship to a group which brings with it a comforting sense of belonging.

Figure 2: Dislodged from the substrate, this cluster of young Laminaria sincliarii washed ashore on the day of our Whispering. The crowded group has fairly short and quite young-looking stipes and blades. It seems certain this group will not have the chance to grow again next year. Tonquin Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 9, 2024. Photo ID 27675 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Discussion:

One characteristic of this kelp is that it grows and persists on surf exposed rocks that are subject to sand scour. We found the first grouping at Tonquin Beach at the low intertidal zone on a very low 0.2 foot tide. Some blades were still immersed in the subtidal and some were just exposed. All were growing from a larger boulder that was surrounded by the shifting sands of the extensive beach here.

The kinship of the group is interesting; it does give comfort and belonging, and since it is about relationship to one’s group, it also permits the individual to not need to be ‘exposed’ all on their own. Standing out as an individual would be very unnatural and very uncomfortable for them.

As pennants used to signal information visually growing in groups such as this species does, is it really rather too many all at once to deliver a clear signal? Or, does each member of the group repeat the same signal for emphasis, perhaps?

Under certain conditions we can see that the pennants would become mixed up in the direction they were flying – a confusion of blades would not present a uniform message, but perhaps they still signal rough waters – beware! And while the blades do one thing, the holdfast does quite another thing. It is unmoved by currents and ocean swells and persists with its purpose undaunted.

Figure 3: At a different site and on another year, this cluster of Laminaria sinclairii was revealed at low tide (minus 0.3 feet). Growing from rock but surrounded also by sand and regularly washed by surf, it has its preferred habitat here. Wickaninnish Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. July 14, 2022. Photo ID 27676 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Next immersion:

“Waving” the flag, in the group it’s almost like you’re there as a group to greet the monarch, or to cheer a marching band in a parade..., so a type of setting where a group is lined up for a parade-like event.

Waving the flag is joining in and showing your support to whoever you are admiring, or to whoever you are supposed to admire.

“Supposed to...” – there in this seaweed the power of the collective; a group that ‘agrees’ and ‘goes along’ has influence simply by their numbers. And possibly they also feel some pressure to conform. It is almost as if they are powerless to NOT conform. There can be sometimes a longing to go out on one’s own with certain opinions or thoughts, but they are largely unable to do this.

We can sense the comfort in working in a group, and also the discomfort / uncertainty when desiring to branch out in new directions; both aspects are there.

Where this seaweed chooses to settle and grow is a critical factor to its longevity. It seems that the “sail” of the pennant-like blades can really pull, so if a poor anchor site is chosen, there will not be a chance to grow into a large successful grouping. It feels also that the large base itself can almost grow overly large; it becomes perhaps too heavy itself or protrudes where obstacles can collide with it and do damage. So large can be overdone at times, it would seem, and sometimes with costly consequences.

In a good location, this seaweed is perennial, growing back from stipe ends and also growing new stipes from the large rhizomatous base. So, it can persist and thrive, but always from pretty much the same base.

The “periscope out” to the outer world aspect is about watching and searching, being tentative, checking things out before launching into something.

Their considerable “industry” is carried out “behind the scenes”, even sometimes buried in sand; they’re comfortable there, out of sight, doing what they know how to do. There is no desire to have their “way” of doing things questioned or really even observed. This aspect of them is definitely not showy – and it exists in strong contrast to their waving flag blades.

Figure 4: A surprise find at the end of a winter afternoon, this clump of Laminaria sinclairii was had been cast ashore by recent storm and wave action. The extensive rhizomatous cluster of haptera has created a very large base. The dark brown stipes are each terminated by a very small kelp-brown blade that has not yet had time to lengthen. It appears that the year’s new growth had already begun before some trauma dislodged the grouping from its substrate. French Beach, Juan de Fuca Strait, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. February 12, 2022. Photo ID 27677 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Biology & Natural History Information:

Description:

A member of the group of “simple bladed” kelps, this perennial species consists of numerous strong and flexible cylindrical stipes (to 10 cm long & 0.5 cm in diameter) that each bare a single narrow blade, usually less than 5 cm wide, of varying lengths. The total length of the thallus – stipe to blade tip, reaches up to 1 meter. The blades have a smooth surface texture. The holdfast is composed of an extensive of prostrate, branching, rhizome-like haptera. This species prefers to grow on surf-exposed rocks typically associated with sand scour.

Habitat:

Locally abundant, forming dense patches on rocks; inhabits the low intertidal and shallow subtidal, often associated with and partially buried in sand.

Distribution:

Laminaria sinclairii is found from Hope Island (central BC) to Los Angeles, County (central California). Type specimen locality; San Francisco, California.

Remarks:

Another species, Laminaria longipes, shares very similar physical traits. L. longipes is a more northerly species, ranging from the Bering Sea and Southeast Alaska, along the British Columbia coastline and down to northern Washington State. Mucilage ducts present in the stipes of only L. sinclairii distinguish the two species. At the end of the growing season the blades of this kelp tatter, break off and wear away during winter storms; new growth arises in the next season from the terminal ends of the perennial stipes. Laminaria sinclairii can be intermittently partial buried by sand, sometimes for weeks or months at a time, but it tolerates these substrate fluctuations and persists.

Classification:

Kingdom: Chromista

Phylum: Heterokontophyta

Subphylum: Ochrophytina

Class: Phaeophyceae

Order: Laminariales

Family: Laminariaceae

Genus: Laminaria

Species: Laminaria sinclairii (Harvey ex J.D.Hooker & Harvey) Farlow, Anderson & Eaton 1878

Other name(s) & synonyms:

Homotypic synonyms: Lessonia sinclairii Harvey ex Harvey & J.D.Hooker 1847; Phycodendrum sinclairii (Harvey ex J.D.Hooker & Harvey) Kuntze 1898. Heterotypic synonym: Laminaria andersonii Eaton ex Harvey 1881.

Figure 5: A view of young blades suspended in shallow water and above the surrounding extensive sandy beach. The wave action here seems to have encouraged slight ruffling along the edges of the blades, a feature that is not always present in this species. The simple blades have no midrib and no branching; as such they move easily amongst each other. Tonquin Beach, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. May 8, 2024. Photo ID 27678 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com