Algae

	Red stuff.
	Another clump of the unidentified red stuff. It is probably a plant because it is not calcified. It may be a red alga. There are four types of algae: blue-green, green, brown and red. All of these are found in the Cove. Red algae grow mainly below the inter-tidal zone, and wash into the beach.
	Giant Kelp Macrocystis This is the “forest” plant that Carol and Phil Adams talk about in their wonderful Adventures With Nature walk: “Sea Otters and The Forest.” Brown alga.
	Sea Lettuce/Ulva, two cells thick.
	Ulva
	Entermorpha
	Enteromorpha.  Feel it. It is slippery. Many water plants are slippery. This helps prevent tearing of the plant when the leaves get tangled. Enteromorpha is a green alga, that somewhat resembles link sausage in shape. During the day, oxygen bubbles form inside it, a by-product of photosynthesis. You may cut a one inch strand and carry it to the Museum in a Petri dish with a drop of seawater, to look at under the microscope.   The walls of the oxygen chambers are said to be only one cell thick.
	Enteromorpha

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Revised Monday, February 18, 2008 02:25:39 PM