Seaweeds
What are they?
Seaweeds closely resemble plants but do not produce flowers and are actually species of alga. Unlike the higher plants, they generally do not form an epidermis (or skin) and so are readily dried out in the sun of thrown up on the beach by high tides. Some species produce a holdfast, a kind of 'root' which allows them to attach to a firm surface, while others flight more freely in the water.
Identification
Most species can at first be sorted into brown, red or green seaweeds by their general color. Larger species are typically easily identified by their overall structure and growth style. Smaller species can be harder to determine and sometimes it is necessary to study surface texture and other minute structures with a hand lens. Seaweeds often make up a significant part of the detritus of the wrackline on the beach, but washed up segments can be hard to identify to species.
Bladder Wrack Fucus vesiculosus
An abundant species of intertidal waters in the backbays and along the bayshore. Colonies of this species smother rock jetties, hang off wooden pilings and grow along the highwater mark among saltmarsh grasses.
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Enteromorpha intestinalis
An abundant green seaweed of shallow, inshore waters and brackish ponds. May be found attached to firm surfaces or floating freely at the surface.
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