All along the Pacific Coast of North America, giant stands of kelp up to 100 feet high, like this one in California"s Channel Islands, provide habitat for a vast number of fish, invertebrates, and sea mammals. Giant kelp, technically a type of brown algae, is the largest of all seaweed and one of the fastest-growing of any organism—as much as 2 feet per day! The gas-filled pods you see in this image help the kelp float. Like the trees in the Amazon, the kelp forests of our oceans are key to the health of marine life.
Giant kelp in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Today in History
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World Art Day
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Atrani, Amalfi Coast, Italy
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It s World Poetry Day
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Rethymno, Crete, Greece
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Of moles and liquid nitrogen
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Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
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Purple flowers and Golden Week
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Cherry blossom season in Tokyo
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A Bengal tiger in Ranthambore National Park, India
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By the light of the fireflies
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National Park Week begins
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Misool Island, Indonesia
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Honoring those who served
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Ring of fire
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Steyr River, Austria
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Just another day in paradise
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World Theater Day
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Next stop, Tofino
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Ready for takeoff
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Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
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Mountain goats at Glacier National Park in Montana
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Norway s Kjeragbolten boulder
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American bison
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It’s National Walk to Work Day
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Swimming into the season
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Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
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Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand
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Back to the nest
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First day of summer
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Adorably evolutionary sea sheep