GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a • food • fun
Nereocystis luetkeana
Bullwhip kelp
By LYNETTE RAE McADAMS
While it’s true the Pacific
Northwest is famous for
its forests, there’s one
we often overlook — the
offshore kelp forest that
thrives beneath the surface
of our churning coastal
waters. Easily its most
impressive member, and
the most common seaweed
to wash up on our local
beaches, is Nereocystis luet-
keana, known by the more
familiar names of bullwhip
kelp, bull kelp, ribbon kelp,
horsetail kelp, and sea
otter’s cabbage.
Actually a complex algae
(specifically, the largest in
the family of brown algae),
bullwhip kelp can be found
from Monterey, California,
to the Aleutian Islands in
Alaska and grows in large
fields in the subtidal zone.
The fastest-growing kelp in
the world, it is an “annual”
seaweed, changing from a
single spore in the spring
to a mature plant by au-
Photo by Lynette Rae McAdams
This massive tangle of bullwhip kelp washed ashore near Ocean Park, Washington.
tumn. During the summer
months, when growth
peaks, it can gain up to 10
inches per day to eventu-
ally reach a length of 120
feet.
Nereocystis (Greek for
“mermaid’s bladder”),
clings to the rocky ocean
floor with a holdfast, or
rootlike structure, that
keeps it tethered in place.
From the holdfast grows a
long stalk (called a stipe),
that quickly becomes
hollow as it reaches for
the water’s surface. At
the end of the stipe is the
kelp’s airtight trademark
bulb, which is filled with
a gas containing carbon
monoxide, and floats high
in the water, keeping the
kelp upright. Ribbon-like
blades grow from the top
of the bulb and spread out
like hair across the surface
of the sea, converting
sunlight into food through
photosynthesis.
Underwater, groves of
bullwhip kelp provide shel-
ter for crabs, snails, shrimp,
sea stars, sea anemones, and
many other marine inver-
tebrates. On the surface, its
flowing ribbons are popular
with sea otters, who like to
snack on the kelp and then
wrap themselves in the ten-
drils to keep from drifting
away in the currents while
they sleep.
A complete source of
trace minerals and protein,
bullwhip kelp is entire-
ly edible and has been
harvested by humans for
millennia. Indigenous peo-
ple used the plant for food
and also as a tool, weaving
its long stipes into fishing
lines and nets, and keep-
ing the bulbs as storage
for rendered fat and fish
oil. Today, this kelp is still
a prominent ingredient in
many products, used espe-
cially to thicken ice cream,
salad dressings, hand lo-
tion and household paints.
It is particularly delightful
when pickled.
NW
word
nerd
By RYAN HUME
Buoy >EƝ@
noun
1. a floating object, often
affixed with a visible signal
and anchored to the bottom
of a lake, river or bay to mark
channels, hazards and mooring
opportunities among other
things
2. Buoy Beer: an award-win-
ning brewery and public house
that opened its doors on the
Eighth Street wharf in Astoria
in 2014
3. Bell Buoy of Seaside: a
family-owned fishmonger that
has been operating for over 50
years and is located on west
side of U.S. Highway 101 at the
south end of town
verb
4. To keep afloat, or con-
versely, to keep from sinking
5. nautical: To mark with a
buoy
6. to be encouraged or to
rise up
Origin:
The noun enters Middle En-
glish in 1296 as boye, meaning
a beacon (to which it is proba-
bly related) or signal, borrowed
either from the Old French boie
or the Middle Dutch boeye,
both of which arose from the
West Germanic baukn.
The verb as it relates to
marking with a float derives
from the noun’s meaning and
appears in 1596.
As the verb relates to
“lightness” or “rising up” first oc-
curred shortly after, in the 17th
century, and may have been
influenced by the Spanish verb,
boyar, meaning “to float.”
“The 50-to-55-foot trawler had struck
river buoy 40 near the Megler Bridge, ac-
cording to a 911 call U.S. Coast Guard Sector
Columbia River received at 12:21 p.m. from
Astoria Dispatch. The fishing vessel was
disabled but was not taking on water or in
immediate danger of sinking.”
—Chinook Observer staff report, “Boat
strikes buoy, gets towed back,” The Daily As-
torian, June 15, 2015
“‘The wait is nearly over. Buoy Beer
Company, Astoria’s fourth brewery, will
open at 4 p.m. Friday and be on tap this
weekend at Fort George’s Festival of the Dark
Arts and during the statewide Zwickelmania
breweries celebration.”
— Edward Stratton, “Buoy Beer taps
the keg Friday,” The Daily Astorian, Feb.
13, 2014, P. A4
Bike Trip
America
Astoria to New York
Adventure update #1:
June 18 to July 8
By MARILYN GILBAUGH
The crew: Astoria teenage
Boy Scouts Bryce Nurding,
Ryan Tallman and Jonathan
Williams. Gearhart’s Pat Woll-
ner and Hawaii’s Don Child
are the adult sidekicks, she at
the wheel of a Suburban, Don
on a bike.
The journey so far: 21
days riding across Oregon,
Washington, Idaho and Mon-
tana, almost 1,200 miles
(1198.60 according to Nurd-
ing’s schedule) from Astoria to
Glendive, Montana. The crew
plans to arrive in NYC Aug. 15.
Highlights:
• Down one on day two: Mascot
black lab Annie, deciding that long days
in the Suburban plus no play time are not
for her, has found a summer’s stay along
the way more to her liking. Both Pat and
Annie are happy with the decision.
Submitted photo courtesy Don Child
From left, Don Child, Jonathon Williams, Ryan Tallman and Bryce Nurding celebrate reach-
ing the Continental Divide July 1 at Rogers Pass in Montana, at an elevation of 5,610 feet.
After leaving Astoria June 18, the group is biking across America this summer to raise
funds for Operation Comfort Warriors. They expect to reach New York City Aug. 15.
• No such thing as too much
food: Burning 5,000-plus calories a day,
there is no diet big enough to stop the
crew from eating!
• Lodging: The crew stays in prear-
ranged churches, private homes, tents,
camp grounds, state parks and ranches.
They enjoy real beds and hot showers for
the first time June 25, provided by the
commander of American Legion Post 13
in Lewiston, Idaho. When they roll into
town, a TV reporter greets them.
• June 28 & 29: The crew climbs
up Lolo Pass in the Rockies and down
the other side into Missoula, Montana.
Fundraising for Operation Comfort
Warriors reaches approximately $2,500.
They receive a $200 check from Ameri-
can Legion Post 9 in Lincoln, Montana.
• July 1: The group crosses the Con-
tinental Divide at Roger’s Pass, elevation
5,610 feet. All water from here on flows
into the Atlantic.
• July 2: They cross the last of the
Rocky Mountains.
Find out more: Daily or nearly daily
(due to the whims of Internet connec-
tions) details, photos and videos are
available on Bryce Nurding’s Bike Trip
Across America Facebook page and on
Don Child’s blog at donsbike.blogsite.com
July 16, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 23