How are kelp
babies made?
The life cycle of Ecklonia radiata
From Golden Kelp zoospores, to gametophytes which become clusters of and tiny kelp babies on string, sporophytes are “born” . . .
This is a story of a brown algae with a forest of complexities! Allow us to explain what we have learned so far.
A look through the microscope
Zoospores
Kelp gangs forming
Early Germination Phase
Sporophyte (Baby)
Male Gametophytes?
Sporophyte Cluster
Germination
Multiple Sporophyte Clusters
A Future Focus
Hatchery-reared seedlings of Ecklonia radiata, also known as golden kelp, will be planted out at sea on sections of the local coastline near Tilba, marking an important milestone for the state of NSW. It is a first of it’s kind regenerative ocean farming pilot project in Australia. Centralised Hatchery - provided seeded lines to emerging kelp industry
Small is beautiful, it's not the size it's what you do with it. Kms of seeded kelp lines from one small spool.
Spooler alert. Test spools 5-10metres (next week just tried 500 metres across spools and tanks and they all worked)
30 litre tank - can have almost half a km of seeded line
Could evolve to 4 tonnes of kelp biomass!
Scalable.
