How Does Seaweed Survive?

Despite their often lifeless appearance seaweeds are flexible and adaptable, they known their place in the circle of life and are thriving as much as ever despite the increasing threat of sea pollution.

• Rocks

Attached to rocks, the sea bed or anywhere they can find a home seaweed are strong survivors, requiring minimal assistance and able to draw energy from their surroundings. Surviving off the fluids and gases from seawater and sunlight they extract what they need to remain robust and growing. Without the roots that other plants enjoy seaweeds use hold fasts to keep them attached to the seabed which acts like an anchor. Coming from the hold fast is a stripe which supports the seaweed, the stripe is both strong and flexible and can run to as much as 20 meters in length.

• Salt water

Fashioned for generations of making the most out of very little seaweeds survive by making the most of very little which makes them so robust and independent. Ordinary plants cannot survive in salt water but seaweed is technically a form of algae and has no difficulties living off salt water, restricted daylight and whatever it can pick up from the seabed.

Seaweed survives in all sorts of oceans from the bleak and cold seas of the Atlantic through to the more appealing and pleasant waters of the Caribbean. With so many different types of conditions to survive in seaweeds vary greatly across different oceans but whatever the circumstances they maximize resources.

• Reproduction

Seaweed reproduces both asexually and sexually. Smaller types of seaweed break off from the parent to grow in new locations whilst other types of male and female cells can join together and develop alongside a parent or elsewhere.