[TICKING]
[CLOCK ALARM]
[FIREWORKS].
♪ ♪
CHARLIE: WHAT’S UP GUYS?
MY NAME IS CHARLIE, THAT’S PATRICK, KIRBY’S FILMING
RIGHT NOW AND TODAY WE’RE IN CALIFORNIA,
IN MONTEREY, TO CHECK OUT AN UNDERWATER FOREST.
WHILE EXPLORING THE U.S. WE’VE VISITED SOME OF
THE COOLEST FORESTS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY,
BUT WE WERE IN THE MOOD FOR SOMETHING REALLY DIFFERENT.
SO WE CAME HERE, TO MONTEREY TO CHECK OUT THE KELP FORESTS,
AND OUR FRIENDS ALEX AND SABINE SHOWED US SOME
OF THEIR FAVORITE SPOTS.
MONTEREY BAY HARBORS SOME OF THE RICHEST AQUATIC
ENVIRONMENTS ON THE ENTIRE WEST COAST AND SOME OF THE
COOLEST KELP FORESTS YOU’VE EVER SEEN IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE,
SO WE HAD TO CHECK THEM OUT.
THE WATER WAS INSANELY COLD, SO WE WET-SUITED UP,
KIRB AND I THREW ON SOME SCUBA TANKS,
PAT WENT FREE DIVING BECAUSE HE’S A BOSS AND CAN HOLD
HIS BREATH FOR, LIKE, 45 MINUTES, AND WITH CAMERAS
IN HAND WE SUBMERGED INTO THE FOREST CANOPY.
♪ ♪
SWIMMING THROUGH THE KELP WAS ONE OF THE
COOLEST THINGS WE’VE EVER DONE.
WE WERE WEAVING THROUGH THE ENORMOUS KELP COLUMNS,
LIGHT WAS SHINING THROUGH THE CANOPY,
THE SEA FLOOR WAS TEEMING WITH LIFE.
ALL DIFFERENT SORTS OF THINGS WE’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
IT WAS REALLY INCREDIBLE, THERE WAS NO WAY WE COULD HAVE
SEEN ALL OF THIS STUFF FROM OUT OF THE WATER.
HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND WHILE DIVING.
KELP FOREST ARE AWESOME.
THEY’RE LIKE SUPER COOL UNDERWATER FORESTS AND,
TO A FEW BIO NERDS, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE COOLER THAN THAT?
WELL, THE HONEST ANSWER IS PROBABLY NOTHING.
SO OBVIOUSLY HE HAD AN INCREDIBLE TIME DOWN THERE
AND WE FOUND OUT THAT KELP ARE SUPER COOL ORGANISMS TOO.
I MEAN FOR ONE THING THEY’RE ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING
ORGANISMS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.
THEY CAN GROW UP TO 2 FEET IN A SINGLE DAY, SUPER QUICK.
THINK ABOUT THAT THIS WAY,
IT TOOK PATRICK 17 YEARS TO GROW 6 FEET.
KELP GROW MUCH MORE QUICKLY SO TO GROW 6 FEET,
IT’D TAKE A PIECE OF KELP MONDAY, TUESDAY,
AND MAYBE A BIT OF WEDNESDAY.
THE CRAZY THING IS, THESE SPEED GROWERS AREN’T
EVEN A KIND OF PLANT.
THEY’RE ACTUALLY A KIND OF BROWN ALGAE.
ONE OF THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ALGAE AND
PLANTS IS THAT ALGAE DO NOT HAVE VASCULAR SYSTEMS.
PLANTS HAVE ALL SORTS OF INTERNAL TUBES THAT
ALLOW THEM TO SOAK UP NUTRIENTS THROUGH THEIR ROOTS.
BUT ALGAE DO NOT.
IN ALGAE, EVERY SINGLE CELL ABSORBS ITS OWN NUTRIENTS.
ALRIGHT SO RIGHT OFF THE BAT, KELP ARE NOT PLANTS.
BUT EVEN SO, KELP IN KELP FORESTS ARE REALLY SIMILAR
TO TREES IN NORMAL FORESTS.
FOR ONE THING, BOTH KELP AND TREES OBTAIN ENERGY
THROUGH ABSORBING SUNLIGHT.
ROOTS HOLD TREES IN PLACE AND HOLDFASTS KEEP KELP IN PLACE,
FASTENING THEM TO ROCK TYPE THINGS.
TREES HAVE TRUNKS.
KELP HAVE SIMILAR STRUCTURES NAMED STIPES.
TREES, HAVE LEAVES, AND KELP HAVE BLADES,
PRETTY LEAF-ISH AND PHYSICALLY SIMILAR.
NORMAL FORESTS CHANGE FROM SEASON TO SEASON,
AND KELP FORESTS DO TOO,
IN PRETTY MUCH THE SAME EXACT WAY.
IN FALL, ONE BY ONE, ALL THE BLADES FALL OFF THE KELP,
IN WINTER EVERYTHING’S PRETTY MUCH DEAD BECAUSE
STORMS ROLL IN, AND THEN THINGS COME BACK TO LIFE
IN THE SPRING, SO PRETTY MUCH LIKE A NORMAL FOREST.
ALRIGHT, WE GOT IT, SO THEY’RE SIMILAR TO FORESTS!
AND THEY’RE NOT TOO BAD LOOKING EITHER.
I’VE NEVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE THAT LITERALLY TOOK
MY BREATH AWAY, BUT THE FIRST TIME I
ROLLED OVER WHILE UNDERWATER, AND LOOKED UP AT THIS KELP,
I LITERALLY GASPED AND COULDN’T BREATHE.
IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING I’VE EVER
SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.
BUT THEN I MEAN, I STARTED BREATHING AGAIN,
BECAUSE IF I DIDN’T MY LUNGS WOULD’VE EXPLODED.
BECAUSE THAT’S KINDA HOW SCUBA DIVING WORKS.
SO THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF KELP IN MONTEREY
BUT WE FOUND OUT THAT THERE ARE TWO MAIN KINDS,
THERE’S GIANT KELP AND THEN BULL KELP.
IF YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC,
YOU GOTTA CHECK OUT THE PNEUMATOCYSTS.
PNEUMATOCYSTS ARE LIKE LITTLE KELP WATER WINGS.
THEY’RE TINY BLADDERS OF AIR THAT KEEP KELP AFLOAT.
BULL KELP AND GIANT KELP HAVE DIFFERENT KINDS
OF PNEUMATOCYSTS.
BULL KELP HAVE ONE GIANT ONE AT THE TOP THAT KEEP
THINGS AFLOAT LIKE A BIG HOT AIR BALLOON AND
GIANT KELP HAVE SMALLER ONES ATTACHED TO EACH INDIVIDUAL
BLADE THAT TOGETHER KEEP THE KELP AFLOAT.
ONE PNEUMATOCYST, BULL KELP…
MANY PNEUMATOCYSTS, GIANT KELP.
PNEUMATOCYSTS ALLOW KELP GROW UPWARDS TOWARD THE SURFACE.
THIS GIVES THEM A DISTINCT CANOPY AND UNDERSTORY FEEL.
SO, EVEN THOUGH WE WERE UNDER WATER,
IT FELT LIKE WE WERE IN AN ACTUAL FOREST,
MEANDERING OUR WAY THROUGH ENORMOUS TREES.
BUT IT FELT MORE LIKE WE WERE FLYING THROUGH A FOREST,
SINCE WE COULD GO UP AND DOWN, AND CHECK OUT EVERY AREA OF
THIS UNDERWATER ECOSYSTEM.
JUST LIKE A NORMAL FOREST, THE CANOPY AND UNDERSTORY
EACH SUPPORT THEIR OWN UNIQUE MICROENVIRONMENTS.
WE RAN INTO SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS DOWN THERE,
LIKE TINY FISH, TINIER FISH, EVEN TINIER FISH,
A GROUP OF CURIOUS SEALS THAT SWAM RIGHT UP NEXT US,
THERE WERE CRABS, BARNACLES, STARFISH,
TONS OF GIANT SLUGGY THINGS, THIS CRAZY UNDERWATER MINI
DR. SEUSS TREE, AND THESE AWESOME HUNGRY CORMORANTS
THAT SWAM AROUND US FOR A SUPER LONG TIME.
IT WAS REALLY INCREDIBLE TO EXPERIENCE,
BUT THE TRICKY THING IS, SOMETIMES THE KELP FORESTS
START SUPPORTING THINGS THAT THEY DON’T REALLY
WANT TO BE THERE.
SPECIFICALLY, PURPLE SEA URCHINS.
PURPLE SEA URCHINS ARE THE WORST.
THERE’S NO OTHER WAY TO SAY IT.
I MEAN, THEY’RE POKEY AND UGLY AND ON TOP OF
THAT THEY ABSOLUTELY WREAK KELP FORESTS.
SEA URCHINS COLLECT IN HERDS UNDERWATER.
YES, HERDS, LIKE HERDS OF CATTLE,
BUT THEY’RE TINY TENNIS BALL SIZED SPIKY SEA MONSTER HERDS.
THEY MOVE AROUND IN THESE HERDS AND GRAZE ON KELP.
LIKE COWS ON GRASS.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, THEY GRAZE A LITTLE TOO MUCH,
AND DECIMATE THESE FORESTS AT A RATE OF 30 FEET PER MONTH.
WHICH IS PRETTY QUICK FOR THESE TINY LITTLE SEA COWS.
OUR BIGGEST ADVOCATE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST SEA URCHINS
AND THE PROTECTION OF KELP FORESTS?
SEA OTTERS.
SEA OTTERS PREY ON URCHINS, THEY EAT ‘EM UP FOR BREAKFAST,
AND ARE GENERALLY ADORABLE.
THEY DO THEIR BEST TO DEMOLISH, DESTROY, DEVOUR,
AND ACCORDING TO PATRICK, BODY SLAM SEA URCHINS,
WHICH HELPS ENSURE THAT KELP STICK AROUND FOR SOME TIME.
SO KELP FORESTS, SIMILAR TO TREES,
BUT STILL AREN’T PLANTS, HAVE PNEUMATOCYSTS,
ARE DEPENDENT ON SEA OTTERS,
AND ARE SERIOUSLY FUN TO SWIM THROUGH.
[FIREWORKS].
