Seaweed under the spotlight Living Seas Officer Ulster Wildlife
Trust WE all know seaweed, that slimy stuff that tangles around
your feet when having a dip or a paddle in the sea, but there is
a lot more to it than meets the eye. Seaweed is actually rather
fascinating, and just as plants form the basis of life on land,
seaweed plays the same role in the ocean. Seaweed isn’t a plant
though; it is in fact algae and as such, doesn’t have a vascular
system or extensive roots. Instead, it produces extremely strong
adhesives which help it attach to rocks by its base, known as
the holdfast. Seaweed can be easily categorised into three main
types - green, brown and red – which have evolved over billions
of years and possess various capabilities of surviving on either
the lower, middle or upper shore. It plays a vital role in the
natural world and actually makes up the greater bulk of our
oceans’ vegetation whilst also providing valuable shelter for
fish and invertebrates; dense kelp forests, for example, support
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