Bull kelp ( Nereocystis luetkeana ) at Caspar Point, California
Southern bull kelps ( Durvillaea ) in Otago, New Zealand
Kelps are large brown algae or seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant but a stramenopile, a group containing many protists.
Membranipora membranacea is a very widely distributed species of marine bryozoan known from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, usually in temperate zone environments. This bryozoan is a colonial organism characterized by a thin, mat-like encrustation, white to gray in color. It may be known colloquially as the coffin box, sea-mat or lacy crust bryozoan and is often abundantly found encrusting seaweeds, particularly kelps.
The Sitka deer or Sitka black-tailed deer is a subspecies of mule deer, similar to the Columbian black-tailed subspecies. Their name originates from Sitka, Alaska, and it is not to be confused with the similarly named sika deer. Weighing in on average between 48 and 90 kg, Sitka deer are characteristically smaller than other subspecies of mule deer. Reddish-brown in the summer, their coats darken to a gray-brown in mid- to late August. They are also good swimmers, and can occasionally be seen crossing deep channels between islands. Their average lifespan is about 10 years, but a few are known to have attained an age of 15.
Nereocystis is a monotypic genus of subtidal kelp containing the species Nereocystis luetkeana. Some English names include edible kelp, bull kelp, bullwhip kelp, ribbon kelp, bladder wrack, and variations of these names. Due to the English name, bull kelp can be confused with southern bull kelps, which are found in the Southern Hemisphere. Nereocystis luetkeana forms thick beds on subtidal rocks, and is an important part of kelp forests.
Durvillaea is a genus of large brown algae in the monotypic family Durvillaeaceae. All members of the genus are found in the southern hemisphere, including Australia, New Zealand, South America, and various subantarctic islands. Durvillaea, commonly known as southern bull kelps, occur on rocky, wave-exposed shorelines and provide a habitat for numerous intertidal organisms. Many species exhibit a honeycomb-like structure in their fronds that provides buoyancy, which allows individuals detached from substrates to raft alive at sea, permitting dispersal for hundreds of days over thousands of kilometres. Durvillaea species have been used for clothing, tools and as a food source by many indigenous cultures throughout the South Pacific, and they continue to play a prominent role in Chilean cuisine.
Haliotis rufescens is a species of very large edible sea snail in the family Haliotidae, the abalones, ormers (British) or pāua. It is distributed from British Columbia, Canada, to Baja California, Mexico. It is most common in the southern half of its range.
Durvillaea antarctica, also known as cochayuyo and rimurapa, is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found on the coasts of Chile, southern New Zealand, and Macquarie Island. D. antarctica, an alga, does not have air bladders, but floats due to a unique honeycomb structure within the alga's blades, which also helps the kelp avoid being damaged by the strong waves.
Durvillaea willana is a large species of southern bull kelp endemic to New Zealand.
Onithochiton neglectus neglectus is a subspecies of chiton in the family Chitonidae.
The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on 23 January at about 9.17 p.m., affecting much of the Cook Strait area of New Zealand, including Marlborough in the South Island and Wellington and the Wairarapa in the North Island. In Wellington, close to the epicentre, shaking lasted for at least 50 seconds. The moment magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated as 8.2, the most powerful recorded in New Zealand since systematic European colonisation began in 1840. This earthquake was associated with the largest directly observed movement on a strike-slip fault, maximum 18 metres (59 ft). This was later revised upward to about 20 m (66 ft) slip, with a local peak of 8 m (26 ft) vertical displacement on lidar studies. It has been suggested that the surface rupture formed by this event helped influence Charles Lyell to link earthquakes with rapid movement on faults.
Onchidella marginata is a species of air-breathing sea slug, a shell-less marine pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Onchidiidae.
Durvillaea poha is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found in New Zealand.
Durvillaea amatheiae is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found in Australia.
Durvillaea fenestrata is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp endemic to the subantarctic Antipodes Islands of New Zealand.
Durvillaea incurvata is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp endemic to Chile.
Durvillaea chathamensis is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand.
Durvillaea potatorum is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found in Australia.
Pōhā are traditional Māori bags made from southern bull kelp, which are used to carry and store food and fresh water, to propagate live shellfish, and to make clothing and equipment for sports. Pōhā are especially associated with Ngāi Tahu, who have legally recognised rights for harvesting source species of kelp.
Pyrophyllon subtumens is an obligate red algal epiphyte of Durvillaea southern bull-kelp, and is endemic to New Zealand.
Maullinia is a genus of intracellular, phytomyxid parasites found across the Southern Hemisphere though primarily in Chile, The Prince Edward Islands, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. These parasites infiltrate the cells of their brown algal hosts via cytoplasmic extensions called plasmodia that divide synchronously, becoming increasingly multi-nucleate and engulfing the host cell organelles as they grow. Eventually, as the plasmodia fill the entire cell volume, the host cells become hypertrophied and grow to 3- 4x their original size, showing up as swollen appendages or galls on the host tissue at a macroscopic level. These swollen regions will burst alongside the mature Maullinia plasmodia, releasing biflagellated zoospores to the inter- and extracellular space to disperse the infection further. Zoospores can come from sporangial plasmodia, as in M. ectocarpii, or from resting spores, as in M. braseltonii.