The Web Of Life

Kelp Forest

Fish Grow on Forests and Forests Grow on Fish

Kelp forest
© Parks Canada / Donald Gunn, 2003

Kelp forests are found in waters less than 30 metres deep. The dense foliage of these brown seaweeds provides habitat for thousands of organisms. Sea worms burrow into the holdfast on the sea floor, fish and nudibranchs patrol the trunk-like stipes, and kelp crabs graze on the fronds at the surface. Young herring feed on the zooplankton that mingle in the forests.

Salmon fry hang out in the kelp forests before heading out into the open ocean for their adult lives. Predators, such as marbled murrelets and salmon, know that there is food to be had around kelp forests, and come there to forage.

Species found within the kelp forest ecosystem: