The longer days of spring mean more sunshine, and with the boost in vitamin-daylight comes a boost in kelp growth. This is when kelp grows the fastest, with an average growth rate of ~1cm/day (although rates of up to nearly 5 cm per day have been recorded). Cruisin’.
How are our growlines taking to these days with more rays? Again, a mix of well and not-so-well; the Beach site is showing progress and the Island site is quite sad.
Both raise interesting questions as to why.
<aside> 💡 Before an update on each site, an important and overdue definition: Biofouling Biofouling or biological fouling is the accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals on wet surfaces, where it is not wanted.
Biofouling organisms that might show up on seaweed farm include barnacles, snails, microalgae, bryozoans, hydrozoans, tunicates and more. All are fascinating but all can negatively impact a farms crop, productivity, and equipment.
📄 An excellent Guide to Common Biofouling Organisms from Greenwave.
🖼️ And a solid explanation with great but not-exactly-scientific drawings, as well as ideas on mitigation, from Sofar Ocean: Here
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Yup, more kelp and more not-kelp.
It’s just not happening.
As made clear above, sugar kelp is not the only organism that flourishes as the daylight increases and the water warms. This is when biofouling can blow up.
