The Great African Sea Forest

Browse & download a collection of underwater footage exploring a practically unknown underwater wonder-world on the doorstep of Cape Town.

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Low-angle dolly shot moving over Seabed

Split Fan Kelp has a smaller structure and shorter stipe, where the attached fronds fan out in all directions. The split fan kelp is most prevalent in deeper waters and usually totals three feet tall.

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Atmospheric dolly shot moving through Kelp Forest

Like all marine ecosystems, kelp forests face the challenge of ever-changing ocean conditions and rising temperatures. However, kelp forests respond differently to climate change and anthropogenic threats, as some struggle while others thrive.

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High-angle dolly shot flattening out over Seabed

An essential factor in Kelp ecosystems is herbivore grazers. If there is a sudden increase in one of these herbivores (urchins, snails, abalone, etc.), the growth of the forest can come to a halt. Likewise, if there is a depletion in an important herbivore, a Kelp forest ecosystem will quickly become out of balance.

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Shafts of Light through Kelp

When multiple Kelps break loose, it is typical for them to float to the surface and bind together, creating "rafts". These rafts can home numerous species and travel great distances (contributing to non-native species introduction).

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Slow pan of surrounding Shoal in Kelp

If in ideal conditions, which usually comprise cold and nutrient-dense waters, some kelp species can grow up to 45 metres in total length and up to 45 centimetres per day.

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Low-angle fixed shot tracking Wave-action in Kelp

The kelp and comprising fronds are talented wave action mediators. When stormy weather and turbulent waves close to shore, the kelp and fronds' robustness generates drag and diminishes the waves' power.

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Top-shot of Stingray & Pyjama Shark in Kelp Forest

Sharks, skates, and rays benefit from their highly developed electroception senses. Therefore, this ray and shark likely detect electrical pulses in this very shot.

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Close-up of Stingray resting on Seabed

These sea forests sustain and are home to countless marine mammals (including sea birds, sea otters, and seals), invertebrates (such as brittle stars, crabs, and urchins), and fish species (like Leopard sharks, Hottentots, and Rockfish).

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Multi-angle shot of Stingray moving through Kelp Forest

Sting rays are related to sharks owing to similar features, such as their absence of bones. Although rays don't have sharp teeth, they still ‘chew’ prey with their dermal denticles (the equivalent of teeth).

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Medium shot of Shoal in Kelp Forest

In some cultures, seaweed has been used to predict the weather. Legend has it that if you hang a dried-out piece of seaweed outside, the level of moisture it soaks up will determine whether or not and how soon it will rain.

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Low-angle dolly Ascending through Kelp

Unlike terrestrial plants or large forest trees, Kelps do not form root systems. Instead, they have a structure that anchors them to the sea floor called a holdfast. The holdfast is a sturdy weave of kelp tissue that homes many of its own critters.

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Languid drift through Kelp Forest

Kelp forests dwell in shallow depths and are not found in deeper waters due to their dependence on the sun, which facilitates the fundamental process of photosynthesis.

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Claustrophobic dolly shot breaking through Kelp to Seabed

In historic Celtic cultures, people often burned seaweed to deter a fearsome and mythical creature known as the nuckelavee centaur. The poison-oozing animal was made of kelp and was rumoured to initiate uncontrollable sickness and droughts.

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Low-angle close-up of small Shoal in Kelp

Although some Kelp Forests, such as the ones along the South African coast, are thriving with the fluctuating ocean conditions, there is a global decline in kelp forests, falling two percent in abundance annually.

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Moody eye-level dolly shot through Kelp Forest

In 2016, it was estimated that kelp forests were responsible for sequestering over 200 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, absorbing more CO2 than New York emits annually.

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Low-angle fixed shot of Freediver exploring Kelp Forest

Plastic is undoubtedly one of the greatest threats to our planet, and seaweed is a potential miracle alternative. By substituting fossil fuels and formulating plant-based replacements, seaweeds can be a key to mitigating human impact.

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High-angle shot of Freediver exploring Seabed in Kelp Forest

The seaweed industry is essential for job security and women empowerment, especially in underdeveloped nations. For instance, in Tanzania, 80% of seaweed farmers are women, and seaweed is the third largest export for the country.

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Eye-level dolly shot of Freediver surfacing

Chilean cultures tell tales of a woman called Lapincoya, a woman covered in seaweed who would seduce fishers out to sea. She was also a sign of luck for a fisherman's future catch. Especially if she was seen dancing toward the sea.

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Low-angle fixed shot of Freediver Descending & Ascending

Seaweed agriculture is an up-and-coming, booming industry, cashing in at about 100 billion dollars globally. Since kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms, kelp farming is a profitable and promising industry.

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Atmospheric low-angle shot of Freediver exploring Seabed

Brown seaweed, such as kelp, contains a gelling agent known as alginate. Kelp is heavily cultivated for its alginate, as it is needed for popular products such as ice cream, beer, frozen foods, and sauces.

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Moody low-angle shot of Freediver breaking up Shoal in Kelp

During the legendary famine of the 1800s, it is widely known that seaweed was consumed by starving Irish people, who used kelp to enrich their soil and directly consume essential nutrients.

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Low-angle shot of Freediver passing Shoals in Kelp

Seventy years ago, Japan created a memorial for a British phycologist (seaweed scientist) and deemed her 'the mother of the sea' due to her contributions to Nori conservation. Her research uncovered essential elements of the seaweed lifecycle that helped revive the local Nori algae.

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Low-angle fixed shot of small Shoals in Kelp

Sea Bamboo is a large kelp species that can grow up to 70 metres, where the top of the structures can be seen bobbing atop the sea surface.

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Moody dolly shot exploring Kelp Forests

The two most common algae (interchangeable with seaweed) species in the Great African Sea Forest are Sea Bamboo (Ecklonia maxima) and Split Fan Kelp (Laminaria pallida).

About the Great African Sea Forest

The Great African Sea Forest resembles an astounding underwater jungle and is one of the most productive ecosystems worldwide. Kelp forests are found in cold, nutrient-dense oceans and border one-third of the earth's coastlines. The Kelp (algae) itself is a powerful agent against climate change owing to its super power of carbon sequestration.

Biology

Physical Traits

There are three types of algae: Red, Green, and Brown. Kelp is considered Brown Algae (algae is interchangeable with the term seaweed).

Kelp has three primary structures: The holdfast (similar to a plants root system), the stipe (comparable to a stem), and the blades (parallel to leaves).
Sea Bamboo, the kelp species most prominent in the great african sea forest, floats owing to its hollow stipe and strong yet flexible structure that can withstand strong ocean currents and rough sea conditions.

Reproduction

The reproduction process of the Kelp Forest is known as the 'Alteration of Generations'. It is a process where an adult plant produces spores and emits them into the ocean.
The spores grow into female and male spores and come together to produce "sporophytes" (baby kelps, if you will), which anchor themselves to the sea floor and grow into giant Kelps.

Ecosystem

Creatures

Kelp forests are miraculous ecosystems with diversity, productivity, action, and beauty.
The Kelp forest is home to and provides refuge for millions of sea creatures. From loads of fish (such as the Hottentot seabream) to a heap shark species that are endemic to the southern African region (pyjama sharks, puffadder shysharks, dark shysharks, and leopard catsharks) to octopus, brittle stars, and oodles of astonishing multi-coloured nudibranchs (sea slugs).
The Sea Forest benefits more than those that call it home. For instance, seabirds benefit from Kelp forests by preying on the snails and crabs that live on the blades.

Structure and Balance

Similar to terrestrial Forests, Kelp forests can be divided into trophic levels: Canopy (the uppermost layer), Understory (the layer below the canopy), and Forest Floor (the bottom layer).
The thickness of the blades and fronds at the top of the Forest determines the amount of light that reaches the bottom layers, therefore affecting the productivity of the entire ecosystem.

Viability

Threats and Climate Change

Some Kelp forests are exposed to increased temperatures, deep sea mining, habitat destruction, pollution, and (or) coastal erosion. Different scales and combinations of these threats, and how they interact, shape and determine the state of the sea forests and how they will respond to change. This is why nearly one-third of the kelp forests are growing while one-third are deteriorating.
Kelp Forests also play a crucial role in combating climate change. Through a mechanism known as Carbon Sequestration, the Kelp Forest captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere more efficiently than terrestrial Forests.

Conservation Status

In South Africa, the sea forests are thriving. Owing to the change in wind patterns, there is an increase in productive upwelling. The upwelling drives productivity and therefore underpins a more productive ecosystem.
Kelp forests in Australia (specifically on the coasts of Tasmania) are extremely depleted, as only 5% remain.

Current Research

Evidence suggests that Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and other methods of area-based management are productive methods to protect Kelp Forests.
In Kelp forests that are deteriorating, artificial seeds and kelp implants are being used to stimulate growth. In addition, there have also been calls for grazer removals (removing species that feed on kelp, such as sea urchins, fish,or abalone) and altering fishery regulations to improve Kelp Health.

Charisma Factor

Many humans know the feeling of walking through a forest. Dense hordes of trees tower overhead, each tree abounding with life in every crevice of bark. Birds swoop, sing, and soar amid the lush vegetation. Creatures of all kinds harmoniously tick, and we are often left in more serene, tranquil temperaments.
Fewer are fortunate enough to glide through and encounter the serenity found in the underwater labyrinth of a grand sea forest.
The crowded, thick masses of kelp proliferate life, similar to its terrestrial counterpart. When submerged into this ocean chaparral, fish, squid, and marine mammals of all kinds encompass, astonishing us outsiders with its dynamic splendour.

Myths and Legends

Greek mythology abounds with seaweed symbolism. One story tells a tale of a Greek fisherman who eats magic seaweed to bring his catch back to life.
In Hawaiian cultures, a piece of seaweed and coconut fibres is braided into people’s hair as part of a ceremony that binds people together and represents the God of Maui, who was protected by seaweed after he was abandoned by his mother.
Japanese folklore includes seaweed in much of their stories and legends. Seaweeds in Japan were used to pay debt and taxes, and today, seaweed farming is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Korean cultures believe that after birth, mothers should replenish energy and nutrition levels through seaweed soup consumption.

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