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Project Noah Nature School
Sargassum sp.
Sargassum is an orange-brown free-floating seaweed (algae) found offshore in mats (see 3rd picture, taken offshore) throughout the South Atlantic region. These mats of vegetation provide crucial habitat for a wide variety of marine animals in the open ocean, including economically important pelagic species such as tuna, dolphin, wahoo, sargassum fish and billfish as well as sea turtles and marine birds. The berry-like structures are gas-filled bladders known as pneumatocysts, which provide buoyancy to the plant.
Free floating in the Mangrove Lagoon near Compass Point, St. James, US Virgin Islands. Floating mats were spotted off-shore.
Spotted on Sep 18, 2012
Submitted on Nov 17, 2012
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