If you stroll along the seashore this summer, you’ll probably not give the seaweeds or grasses beneath your feet a second thought. They often look messy, and their muted colors certainly don’t catch the eye of beachcombers looking for seashells and other treasures. But they are worth a closer look…
Sugar kelp (Laminaria saccharina) at Rainbow Haven Beach
This large seaweed looks exactly like the noodles used in lasagna, a dish first served by the Romans. It is often washed up on Nova Scotia beaches during storms, but is also found on other Atlantic and Pacific coasts elsewhere in the world.
The Italians cook so many different types of macaroni that were inspired by the sea. The shells are obvious: lumaconi (jumbo shells), conchiglie (medium shells) and lumachine (baby shells) among others. Could lasagna noodles have been inspired by the sea as well?
Known as sugar kelp because of the sugar-like crystals that appear on its surface as it dries, this seaweed can been used as a weather predictor. It will become soft and limp when rain is imminent, but dry and stiff when clear skies are on the horizon. Regardless of the weather, it’s always a good time to enjoy lasagna.
Irish Moss (Chondrus) and the rockweed Fucus on the shore at Rainbow Haven Beach
Irish Moss is another common seaweed found on our beaches. Its reddish purple color is easy to notice among the many other types of seaweed. If you eat ice-cream, you’ve most likely eaten Irish Moss. It goes by the name of carrageenan on food labels. Its gelling properties make it a popular thickener in many foods. However, some researchers have linked it to colitis and colon cancer in recent years. Irish moss is raked in large quantities for commercial use on our shores.
Dried Eelgrass (Zostera) between rocks along the Salt Marsh Trail
Eelgrass is another sea plant that’s served an unlikely purpose. It was used as an effective insulator for many years and is still being replaced by newer forms of insulation between the walls of some older homes in Nova Scotia. For centuries it helped keep maritime homes warm and cozy while the winter winds howled outside. It was once used to stuff mattresses as well. These days it’s woven in some parts of the world for use in home furnishings.
These are just three of the many types of sea plants that wash up on Nova Scotia’s shores. Some, like Dulse and Ulva (sea lettuce) are eaten fresh. Dulse is also eaten dried and is easily found in local grocery stores. It was seaweed that kept many coastal people in Ireland from starving to death during the Great Potato Famine.
There’s certainly more to these sea plants than first meets the eye.
Oh this is a fun post! Seaweed is such fun. It’s a mystery and a marvel what exists in the depth of the sea and what washes up on the beaches. We eat seaweed too on our diet. Just put some kombu in with the split peas. We also eat wakame, arame and some nori. And agar-agar, which is a thickener, although haven’t bought any of that lately. I love that you took photos of all these treasures, Amy! Thank you. (and that you knew their names. That’s even more impressive!)
Wow! You sure do eat a lot of seaweed Kathy. As for the names of things… I was able to look up some of them in materials I still have around from the Nova Scotia Natural Science Museum, from when I homeschooled the kids and taught art/nature classes at the recreation centre.
Well maybe I should correct the impression that we eat a LOT of seaweed. We’ve eaten a bit during the last few years, but it’s added somewhat sporadically to our dishes. Unlike our son’s S. Korean girlfriend who adds it to lots of dishes. Also was interested to know you homeschooled the kids and taught classes. That explains lots.
Fascinating! It is so true, that does look like lasagna noodles. Nature inspires us all, I love that we created noodles because of seaweed.
Thank you so much for your comment on AR, it was so helpful and inspiring I added it to the end of my post with a link to your site. I had a horrible attack last night and am going to drink a TON of water during the day. I listened to people who said don’t drink water with your food and you know, I don’t think I need to worry about diluting my tummy. I was doing much better when I drank water all the time.
Thanks again for dropping by Suzie. Nature can be a source of inspiration and healing. Water by itself is an excellent remedy for so many things that ail us.
Wonderful photos – great sentiments. Today we are enjoying a bright sunny, coolish day on the western coast of WA – summer is grand!!!!
Ah JoAnn, summer on the west coast is indeed grand. Here it’s just been wet. Thanks for making a visit to the east coast 🙂
I love those pictures of the different types of seaweed you find in your area. You always show such affection towards your natural world, that it quite inspires me to look at my surroundings with greater interest.
I confess that I have not paid much attention to seaweed myself since I was quite young, when it both attracted and repulsed me. I grew up in a small town on the Atlantic Ocean (Swakopmund in Namibia), and we frequently swam in the sea.
I didn’t mind it when it lay in huge crackling-dry piles all along the beach, flies and mozzies buzzing all around it and the dogs digging in it for potent smelling stuff – but it became so slimy when wet that it freaked me out.
I have vivid memories of my gran and assorted aunts, uncles and cousins dragging me into the ocean for a swim, and being PETRIFIED out of my wits by the seaweed… it always wound itself around my legs, and I had nightmares of it dragging me down into the depths of the ocean where the sea monsters would gobble me up.
Amazing, how powerful the imagination is!
Reggie, I don’t think I’d be too excited about seaweed if I had your experiences either. It’s one thing to see it on the shore and quite another to have it slithering around you when you’re swimming. So glad the sea monsters didn’t gobble you up. I hate it when that happens 😉
There are often so many flies around the seaweed here too. And some days there are also large numbers of spiders crawling around on the rocks nearby. I would never have thought there’d be so many spiders on the seashore. I’m glad you’ve been inspired to look at the world around you in South Africa with greater interest. Every corner of the world has its own set of wonders.
I spent most of my growing-up years in Hawaii and one of my favorite things to do was an early walk on the beach to look at everything that had washed up over night – jelly fish, seaweed – all kinds of treasures! Your beach photos always remind me of that…:)
Regardless of where they are on the planet, Cindy, I guess a beach is a beach. However, the ones in Hawaii are probably a whole lot warmer and have a greater variety of seashells.
“This large seaweed looks exactly like the noodles used in lasagna, a dish first served by the Romans. It is often washed up on Nova Scotia beaches during storms, but is also found on other Atlantic and Pacific coasts elsewhere in the world.”
I must confess, I had to read this paragraph twice before I realised you weren’t saying the *lasagna* “is often washed up on Nova Scotia beaches during storms”…
😉
Pepsoid, if lasagna washed up on our shores…
“I’ll be back in a moment darlings. I’m just going to pick up some lasagna at the beach.”
“Not again Mom! We’ve had lasagna so many times lately that we must have eaten a pound of sand already just this week!”
😉
Can I collect and eat the kelp washed up on the beach in Carlsbad CA.? If so how do I prepare it?
Phyllis, kelp can simply be rinsed and then dried. But first, I would check to see if the area where you are collecting it is clear of pollutants of any kind.