Wednesday, January 11, 2012

A carpet of multi-coloured seaweeds




After heavy seas -- which usually follow cold fronts -- there's always more flotsam washed up on the beach.

Like a multi-coloured deep pile carpet, seaweeds form mountains, valleys and flatlands on the sand. Bright green sea lettuce, long strands of kelp, and delicate strands of purples, pinks, browns and yellows make up the flotsam.

I love the feel of the seaweed beneath my feet: deep, soft and all the colours of the rainbow. Our dogs have fun chasing each other through the deep beds of seaweed, plunging their noses into the heaps, breathing in the rich salty tang of rotting seaweed.

Over time, the seaweeds decay, with nutrients seeping back into the bay -- composting seaweeds to feed the fish, crabs and countless other forms of marine life that live in Western Port Bay.

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