Mazzaella affinis

Bushy-forked Mazzaella

McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, British Columbia, Canada.

13 January 2021

Observed 22:40 to 23:20 PST

Low Tide 0.3 feet at 23:01 PST (measured at Pat Bay Tidal Station)

Weather: Mostly cloudy (85 to 95%), no precipitation, wind variable 0 to 5 km/hour, sea smooth, temperature 5˚C, relative humidity 86%.

Phase of Moon: Waxing Crescent (approx. 26 hours into this phase at time of observation); (Previous Phase, New Moon, 12 January 2021 at 9:00pm PST: Next Phase, First Quarter, 20 January 2021 at 1:01pm PST.)

Figure 1: Mazzaella affinis, Bushy-forked Mazzaella – viewed underwater at a very low tide, this smaller cluster of algae is showing their features nicely including the iridescent mauve and blue highlights. McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canada. January 13, 2021. Photo ID 27397 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

In situ observations:

We interacted with/observed this seaweed in the low intertidal zone on a large-cobbled rocky shoreline adjacent to the sheltered waters of Saanich Inlet. Observations were done in situ with the living seaweed and recently broken and washed ashore fragments.

Person 1:

Once I’d encountered this seaweed tonight, I was eager to start the Whispering.

Looking at it growing on the top of a rock, it reminded me of the hair-style of Moe from the Three Stooges – bald at the crown with the hair radiating out below.

Moves in water in short abrupt side to side movements, like waving. Like a mechanical waving, like a battery operated toy that moves stiffly back and forth.

Brownish purple with noticeable purple iridescence when underwater.

I played with some broken pieces; fun to play with, I kept flipping it back and forth and squeezing it, it was fun. It was playful.

Seems to have a rhizomatous attachment but I can’t quite tell.

Flattened thallus with pleasing short branching pattern.

Perched atop small rocks – watching the world around it?

Very smooth to the touch.

Slightly gelatinous feel.

Tough to bite, no particular taste, somewhat bitter.

No smell.

Perhaps watching for danger?

There was something about this separating from the top, the bald spot with radiating hair – but I cannot figure out what it is.

Difficult to break into pieces along the stem, but whole plant can be broken away from near the base. Many such broken away pieces were found on the beach tonight.

It’s very attractive, but not sexy. I could pick up no energy related to sexuality.

Thinking about your names; “Bushy-forked Mazzaella” – great description of the seaweed’s appearance. Smiling as I think of Person 2 ‘declaring’ this name. I was smiling due to the lightness / playfulness of that declaration.

“Mazzaella” – sweet, lilting name. “Affinis” – related to, but I have no idea what the relationship is about.

Figure 2: Seen here near midnight on a winter encounter are several clusters of Mazzaella affinis holding fast to their rocky perches. Exposed out of water like this, their thalli are splayed and flattened leaving them with a somewhat ‘deflated’ look. McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canada. January 13, 2021. Photo ID 27398 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Person 2:

Here we find you again on this beach comprised of coarse, rough rocks. It’s not a “walk in the park” to get to you and we knew we needed to come at a very low tide. This brought us here on a dark late evening, nearing midnight.

Coarse beach, lovely seaweed – a contrast there.

Your color, Mazzaella affinis, is a seemingly fathomless rich burgundy red and your position – most clusters are poised prominently atop individual rocks, has me feeling that you stand out as marvel of beauty in this rough intertidal area.

And then, if the light from my headlight catches you just right, I can see plays of iridescent mauves and sky blues. This adds in no small measure to the sense of wonder I had about you when I first encountered you a month ago.

Many of you, even at this very low tide, are still immersed in the waters of Saanich Inlet; the sea is very gentle tonight and you are only softly swaying – like a dance, a waltz with your watery partner. There is a fluidity to your moves that is lovely to observe, but it is a bit stiff, or perhaps formal, like the choreographed movement of ballroom dancers perhaps. Your branches move in lovely ways, but each branch itself is stiff. Your fronds within each branch are fixed, like the starched skirts of a showy dance gown.

As you move, glints of color shine from your surface – soft blue, soft lilac, and variations of these blue/red tones. It is reminiscent of fine silk with a satin weave – light softly interacts with your color, and there is a smoothness to this that contrasts the stiffness of your actual branches.

Each stem of you, though it may tend to curl somewhat gently at the ends, is mostly expressed in branches spread out all in one plane – flattened. Yes, a plane is flat. And so are your stems – they are much broader than they are thick. I estimate that the thickness of your thallus may be 1 to 1.5 mm and the width ranges up to 1 cm.

The base of your stem is unbranched for some distance as it grows from the holdfast; some I observed were 8 or 9 cm long before the thallus widens and begins its branching. The branch forks in two and forks in two again and so on, ending with the terminus of the flat branch indented. This indentation gives a lovely “finish” to the branch, rather than a simple blunt end.

The forking growth pattern means the stem fans out rather broadly.

The bases of your thalli arise from a holdfast which I cannot quite distinguish – it looks possibly fleshy colored and is not prominent on the rock – perhaps a rhizome, possibly it is a roughly discoid shape, I cannot quite tell.

Working at night time when it is fully dark and with only headlamps for lighting has some limitations. Or, maybe you don’t like to show “your roots” for some reason, Mazzaella.

The bases of the stems, the unbranched and earliest sections of the branches, are very tough; my finger nail cannot indent nor cut them. They are tough like leather, smooth and tough, and these sections are not quite as flattened.

A light tug, however, pulls you entirely from your holdfast.

Maybe you don’t anchor quite well enough? Maybe you are mature therefore lacking the vitality of fresh growth.

Last night we had a strong southeasterly wind; it caused many, many branches, lichens, even trees to fall on and across the forest trail down to the beach here, and it seems that many clusters of you, Mazzaella affinis, especially the fuller and more multiply forked stems were “fallen” as well. I’ve found so very many of you washed ashore here tonight.

Is this a danger for you? Too many “frills”, too much “embellishment”, all those forks upon forks of your stems creates an extension of you, a “loft” to you that is perhaps just a step “too prominent” and therefore very vulnerable to being torn away by strong waves and winds that coincide with the very low tides?

Too big, too embellished, too prominent, too “lofty” and then you perish.

The less branched or less ornamented of your stems, they are still anchored to their rocks.

You look lovely under water – “puffed up”, proud and showy, like a red dome created by fans of a similar shaped and similar length branches. This dome is flattened when out of water and then your structure, your core is revealed; somewhat like the ribs of an umbrella, the bases of your stems, the unadorned part of you, is plainly visible. In fact, your overall shape could be likened to that of an umbrella, a graceful dome shape.

The other shape that came to mind with these clusters of red stems, branching in simple forked patterns all radiating from a central point, was that of the fronds at the top of a palm tree. Palm fronds have the same stiffness, and they all radiate from that one center point, too.

I repeatedly observed that from the distance your color impressed me as a deep and rich and beautiful red, but every time I got closer to look at you close up, the red seemed to lose some of its luster, there was an edge of decay to it. Just past prime and maybe also becoming over-ripe. Like your richness had not quite been tended and maintained, it was starting to look a bit sullied, tarnished or spoiled. This hint to the seaweed is only apparent if you look up close. From a distance you’d never suspect this.

I took a taste of this seaweed.

At first I bit off some of the ends of the branches. The taste was quite salty, immediately bitter-ish, and then faintly of iodine.

To chew these parts I felt a crisp texture, like one of cartilage. I did, however, chew and swallow and feel like the ‘meal’ could be nourishing.

I then tried to taste / chew the lower part of the stem, where it is somewhat thicker and much more toughened. These parts are really too hard to chew. I had no desire to try to eat them. They were too tough to want eat…, wait a moment, I wanted to note but stopped myself for some reason, what I first thought but edited out was that “they are too tough to enjoy.”

Why did I not want to admit to enjoying a meal?

Is there something in this such as a hint of shame about my having plenty and riches to enjoy? That I could have good food, good wine, good things and that in that, there is a touch of awareness that this is not so for others. So I am embarrassed, shamed a bit. What to do about this? I think the guilt of my riches would move me to try to share some of them, to partake in benevolent associations, give to charity and so on.

Perhaps there isn’t in this energy the ability to freely enjoy the richness of life with abandon; the enjoyment is tainted with an awareness of inequities. The feeling is not so strong as to want to give up one’s own riches, but it does motivate one to take some efforts to make things somehow more just.

It feels like this extends mainly to the material realm, though, with possessions and wealth. Mazzaella affinis doesn’t doubt their own personal prominence, they are proud, yes, even haughty and they have no desire to shave off, pare down or reduce any of that. Thus there is no associated guilt or shame about one’s own sense of self in this seaweed’s energy.

This reminds me of the expression that is a biblical quote from Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” – and I suspect this is a danger to Mazzaella-type energy, just as the larger more fully branched stems were to many of these living alga.

Your name, “Mazzaella affinis” had some appeal for me. “Mazzaella” – a feminine sounding name and one that’s a bit jazzy, too. In my mind I had playfully ‘nicknamed’ this seaweed “Mazzie” and even “Mazzie-Dazz” whilst simultaneously knowing that the seaweed would not really like such familiar and rather ignoble names; it would prefer a ‘nickname’ with more dignity or poise to it – possibly something like “Queen Mazzaella” or “Maestro Mazzaella”. Mazzaella also brings to mind the root word ‘maze’ – this could be an aspect to this alga as one of the early English meanings for ‘maze’ is to “stupefy or daze”. I think some of the ‘entertainments’ hosted by this seaweed’s type of energy could easily be in the realm of indulging in recreational drugs for their mind-altering capacities, drugs such as alcohol or stronger. I think also the iridescence hints at interest in or capacity to ‘daze’ or bewilder.

“Affinis” – the word ‘affinity’ strongly comes up; Mazzaella wants to be well-liked and has very clear ideas of what it ‘likes’ and what it ‘DIS-likes’! Comfort is possible when in the company of “likes” and most certainly is NOT possible when they are pushed out of their element much at all.

Figure 3: Mazzaella affinis, Bushy-forked Mazzaella – this view shows impressive larger clusters of this showy red alga just as they are exposed, part in and part out of water, at this nighttime low tide. Still glistening with moisture and surrounded by gently lapping waters, there is a rich jewel-studded quality that is befitting its energy. McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canada. January 13, 2021. Photo ID 27399 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Further observations & impressions:

Person 1:

I had aches in unusual (for me) locations, including both knee joints just below the knee cap (patellar tendon) and my lower back. My stiffness reminded me of that experienced when doing the Ahnfeltiopsis linearis Whispering but not as extreme.

On my way up the hill after our interactions (a 1.5 km steady uphill hike) I had a highly unusual amount of energy, particularly for so late at night. Normally I find it very difficult and laborious to hike up that hill.

My usual “cough” (mucus clearing from the throat) was not present at all during the interactions or while hiking up the hill – a time when it is normally very prominent.

The morning following our late-night outing, and continuing through that day, I had an unusually light and content feeling – bright and clear. I also felt very relaxed, was not feeling any pressure to finish the Whispering interactions and documentation or to accomplish any other normal work tasks. I was not feeling lazy; I was actually being very productive in spite of this relaxed feeling. This was highly notable.

Person 2:

I felt stiffness at the beach sitting near the seaweed – a generalized stiffness, especially upon getting up from the area of my close observation efforts. It felt better to stand and move around to do the rest of my interactions. This was very similar to the Ahnfeltiopsis linearis Whispering. In fact, Mazzaella affinis’ morphology is very similar to Ahnfeltiopsis linearis – it’s like a red version, somewhat more flexible, that perches atop rocks. This seaweed, however, definitely wouldn’t want to be buried under sand as Ahnfeltiopsis tolerates and even prefers. This seaweed stands out, and proudly so!

For a time I was seated on one of the moderate sized cobbles near the shore where Mazzaella affinis was growing. Even though I had a small cushion to sit upon, this felt uncomfortable, awkward, like I might slide off the rock, and like I must pay attention to keep my balance to remain up there.

It felt in general that we had to go out of our comfort zone to do this on site interaction, i.e. stay up much later than is usual, cross a much more difficult section of beach in darkness to reach where this algae grows abundantly, and to deal with the rocky cobbles of its habitat as well. The realm of Mazzaella is not an easy one to access.

Finishing up this Whispering the next morning felt easy to do…, reconnecting was not a problem at all… and the impressions continued to flow with ease.

Figure 4: Mazzaella affinis, a washed ashore segment is held to the sky and backlit. The layering and shadowing of the flattened and forked branches creates interesting patterns of varying shapes and depth of color – the words “maze” and “puzzle” come to mind with this view of the alga. December 14, 2020. Photo ID 27400 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Discussion:

“Pride comes before a fall” – Mazzaella and their ilk are on the precipice of a “fall” and it seems that there is not yet a true conscious awareness of this. Is there some hint, some inkling, though? The expression above, comes from Proverbs in the King James Bible, and warns that haughtiness and hubris lead to failure and loss.

A well-known English children’s nursery rhyme also tells of this concept;

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall / Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

And all the king’s horses and all the king’s men / couldn’t put Humpty together again.

It feels like this is what happened to Mazzaella, once torn from its top of the rock home, it could never be restored to its previous splendor.

The branches of this seaweed grow each in their “own plane” and we wonder if this is a physical expression of a certain lack of awareness that can come from a life not lived in all dimensions, or at least several dimensions? One plane / level / dimension may be the material realm, or the scientific realm, or the management realm, or the performing realm, but the inclusion of more than one level is not a comfortable possibility in this energy. Is there security in staying with the known – that which is tried, tested and proven successful? Of course there is! And with that sense of security there is also a silent partner – much like the water is the dance partner to this alga, a partner that whispers it is unsafe to try anything new, that it is risky to incorporate anything previously untested. So, you hold onto, and even cherish, your traditions, Mazzaella, you stay with what works and within the realm that it belongs to. This defines the extent of your expression, where your radii all end – the excellently sustained previous types of successes.

Traditions remind you of your success, your worth, your ‘rightness’ and are therefore much valued. Traditions have a shine to them, perhaps for you it is more of a ‘gleam’ – light which is reflected from another source. You bask in the gleam of these traditions, Mazzaella; see it as your role to pass on the customs and beliefs to others, perhaps to the next generation. It would never occur to you that any good could come from breaking with tradition. That would put too much at risk – “don’t mess with success”, and this you are not prepared to do. This is one of the ways that “having” much is a true limitation; it brings with it the knowledge and the fear that there is also potentially much to lose. The stiff movements Person 1 noted are reminiscent of the wave of Queen Elizabeth II; it’s formal, not exuberant nor overly demonstrative of emotion. This seaweed has a ‘queen-like’ energy, yes, this is one human role that would suit them well.

There can be at times puzzlement, maybe bewilderment and uncertainly about what to do with what’s out there, what’s in front of you or just beyond you that does not fit in with the Mazzaella world view. Things surely aren’t quite right but you don’t expend much effort in trying to figure this out; it seems your preference is really to go back to what you know and in this way you easily can become quite set in your ways. Tradition can become a compulsion, you need to do more of them, keep the traditions happening, preserve the ‘known’ in this way so that you don’t falter, don’t need to second guess your steps.

An outsider might see the waltz, the ballroom dance, the finely repeated traditional event and will be entertained by it, so also won’t tend to interact beyond that level. The entertainment level may be so masterful with Mazzaella, may indeed dazzle enough, that you never truly see any more of the person themselves – only the excellent performance, the skillful dance, the truly fine execution of the show. And this seems to be all that Mazzaella actually wants to share with others, or is that all there is – a well perfected and expansive expression that is sustained and shared with the intent that it be enjoyed as good fortune? If so, well, that in itself is quite something.

This is like the host / hostess of social events or parties – where entertainment offerings – food, drink, music, are provided in abundance and for all to enjoy. And the way to best show appreciation? Indulge, please indulge! The host is proud and truly “in their element” to share this entertainment, and like the seaweed, their “outer frills” can dazzle and impress. There are many people who are quite happy to take in such entertainment. They receive the gifts of the party with pleasure and ease and they do ENJOY it all –Mazzaella affinis appreciates these guests.

Needs the shelter – Saanich Inlet, the only place we’ve found this seaweed, doesn’t usually get much in the way of environmental extremes. The stability of material wealth can provide a type of ‘shelter’ in human life, too; the generous entertainment and benevolent or charitable efforts would end without that type of wealth. This isn’t the situation of “I’ll give you the shirt off my back” as you are in greater need than I am; this is that I have much wealth so I’ll share some of it with you.

Mazzaella affinis does not see himself / herself as proud or haughty – this is their natural state, a lofty position is their norm. They are, after all, iridescent, lustrous, gleaming. They sit proudly, with their chest out and shoulders back, as if from an unquestioned and imposing height. ‘Imposing’…, yes, this is a feature of the energy. Mazzaella has something they want to impose on you, and it will be wrapped up in a package filled with many “good things”; as such that which is a bit forcefully pressed upon may remain undetected.

None or little awareness of “pride before the fall” makes it easy for this seaweed’s energy to fully inhabit their role of sharing abundance and being the generous host. But the generosity is limited to good times, good things and good food. There is little personal depth to it. It’s the shine but not the substance. It is rare that Mazzaella shares any of their deeper thoughts or feelings – those are private. They may jest and talk in clever quips about current topics but to find a circumstance where they might share of themselves, this is not so easy.

One of the problems then is that anyone who would like to go deeper than enjoying a good party will get bored and not really want to maintain this type of relationship. This sentiment is inexplicable to Mazzaella; they cannot understand that dazzle and delights, great food, fine wine, lovely gifts, repeating traditional offerings of fine quality can sometimes feel empty and shallow to others. So their company will eventually self-select for those who do enjoy. And going beyond that type of ‘sharing of enjoyment’ is something Mazzaella affinis might fairly consistently decline, except possibly with a trusted few and very private relationships.

Survivor’s guilt is a concept that comes up – maybe this links to that touch of decay that was perceived. As some will clearly point out, western society values the individual and will spend thousands of dollars to rescue one lost hiker or skier; other societies would save that money for other purposes, not even consider spending money in that way. It’s like with this world view you aren’t comfortable being the one rescued unless you know that benefit would be extended to others in similar circumstances, too. There is an enforced feeling, stiffly imposed, to this culturally denoted ‘equality’ which the Mazzaella-type individual, somewhere deep down, must recognize is never truly a reality in nature.

This is one way they can become “high and mighty” – become lofty and righteous. Sitting on top of their rock, solid in their opinions, clear on their benevolent actions, firm in their adherence to their principles – this justifies their world view, and reinforces its correctness. There is not much room for critical evaluation and reconsidering or review of many issues and the perception is maintained that this is proper and right.

This denotes their incipient decay. If you avoid the issues, you don’t stay current; growth and adaptation are not active.

One response to this slight hint that decay and decline is at the doorstep of the Mazzaella energy is there is a desire to engage in activities that strengthen and exercise and hopefully sustain one’s abilities. So, putting together jigsaw puzzles, doing Sudoku or crossword puzzles, and engaging generally in entertaining activities that simultaneously challenge one’s mind and / or body would be some examples of this.

Even though there is just the hint of beginnings of decline, this is the first time where the meaning of that reality hits home and is recognized, and as such it has a powerful impact. So, then the “fight” or the resistance begins – first with a conscious denial of any decay; second with promoting a façade of being in prime condition or stature, and lastly by engaging in efforts to shore up and maintain talents and abilities that for the first time seem vulnerable.

Once in a while things slip, and your “bald pate” is showing – a touch of the “just past prime” status of our algal friends when we did the Whispering. The first time we visited the habitat and discovered the presence there of the Mazzaella affinis seaweeds they all appeared to be of pristine form and vitality – as if they were dressed and ready for a ballroom dance or a special party. It took us two tide cycles (about 4 weeks) to have appropriate tides and adequate weather in order to do return and do our in-situ interactions. In that time span the appearance of this seaweed had changed; it looked slightly past prime, with pieces torn (possibly enhancing the ‘balding’ appearance), some discoloration was showing (a browning underneath the red) and the fullness of the proud and puffed look, like a grouse’s ruff, was waning notably. Interestingly it was felt not to be a disadvantage at all, the timing of our interaction at this ‘just past prime’ period in this life-cycle of Mazzaella; instead it felt fitting and right – revealing clearly a notable aspect of this energy.

Proximity to “the stars” – this seaweed lives in the low intertidal and subtidal zones and this area is also home to many sea stars of various species. This tells something of the seaweed’s energy also – it wants to “hang out with the stars”. That’s the kind of people they’d like to be associated with and indeed they may be of ‘star’ quality themselves. They don’t usually include common folk in their social circle and most definitely not the riff-raff – they simply don’t have much in common with those types. They don’t want a meal of rice and cabbage but one of lobster and caviar. The type of “star” that Mazzaella associates with often hails from their own realm of like endeavors, or similar. These ‘stars’ are the successful ones in areas of financial achievement, educational degrees, professional prominence or artistic fame and so on. It is here, with their fellow stars, that Mazzaella can have quite a playful and spirited involvement.

Figure 5: Mazzaella affinis – two flattened (revealing their “bald pate”) clusters of this red alga are seen growing alongside “the stars”. The two sea star species also pictured here are – on the left, purple star, Pisaster ochraceus, and tucked between the two fans of seaweed and off to the top right is the much smaller leather star, Dermasterias imbricata. McKenzie Bight, Saanich Inlet, B.C., Canda. January 13, 2021. Photo ID 27401 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com

Biology & Natural History Information:

Description:

A repeatedly and dichotomously branched (up to eight times) red alga that grows up to 10 cm tall. The thalli are wine red to reddish brown to purplish black and have a stiff cartilaginous to leathery texture. The alga can grow in dense clumps and like its close relative, Mazzaella splendens, has iridescent coloration in water.

Habitat:

Locally common on rocks in the mid to low intertidal and shallow subtidal.

Pacific Coast Distribution:

Bering Strait, Alaska to Baja California, Mexico.

Remarks:

Mazzaella affinis is closely related to the Atlantic alga, Chondrus crispus, known as Irish Moss or simply Carrageenan. It is used as an additive to ice creams to keep them smooth and is also useful in soups and jellies and in chocolate milk to keep the chocolate in suspension.

Classification:

Phylum: Rhodophyta

Class: Florideophyceae

Order: Gigartinales

Family: Gigartinaceae

Genus: Mazzaella

Species: Mazzaella affinis (Harvey) Fredericq 1993

Previous names: Rhodglossum affine (Harvey) Kylin 1928 and Gigartina affinis (Harvey) D.H.Kim 1976; Basionym, Chondrus affinis Harvey.

Figure 6: Mazzaella affinis – a close view reveals the morphology of this alga. The lower portions of the thallus are thicker and strongly corticated, while the upper reaches of the forked branches are broader, thinner, cartilaginous-like and more translucent. December 14, 2020. Photo ID 27402 ©Seaweedwhisperings.com