Centum Nec Plura IV

Laminaria

Following a long winter, the first fresh young Sugar kelp washed ashore in Knockvologan Bay at the end of April 2018. Sugar kelp, or Sea belt, belongs to the Laminariaceae family, species of which can form extensive ‘kelp forests’, and is found in the north Atlantic from the cold Barentsz Sea to the northern coasts of the Spanish region of Galicia. This magnificent brown algae grows in deep pools and below the low-tide mark in clear water up to twenty metres deep, particularly on sheltered coasts, as it doesn’t like to be battered too much by waves.
This kelp species, Saccharina latissima is also known as Poor man’s weather-glass, as it used to be hung up on walls as a barometer. If the frond remained stiff, this meant dry weather was in store in the days ahead. If it turned soft and limp, there was humidity in the air and a high probability of rain. 
This specimen was printed life-size and measures 2.41 m.
An earlier version of the poem Submerged was published on the website The Parliament of things and in Extaze 17/18.
Photomontage: Rutger & Huub Emmelkamp