Title: " Sea Frond "

(leaf frond of the Giant Kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera)

Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California, 1999

TOTAL EDITION: 500

SIZE: 11.5" X 16.5" (29 cm X 42 cm)

While on a night dive in an underwater kelp "forest", I found this new frond of kelp, which had not yet separated its leaf blades completely.

The main branch is called the "stipe" and each blade is connected to it by a hollow float called a "pneumatocyst". The float is filled with a gas which keeps these rapidly growing plants buoyant and reaching for the sun.

These plants can grow as much as 30 centimeters per day, and reach lengths as long as 45 meters!