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Phoebe's mum Catriona came to talk to us today about different seaweeds and phytoplankton. Catriona is a marine biologist who studies seaweed and algae. We learnt there are three different colours of seaweed- green, red and brown.
You might think you don't eat seaweed but it is in ice cream, toothpaste and of course sushi. Seaweed is very important for our marine life. Seaworms, sea snails, fish and other small creatures feed from seaweed. It is also a great hiding place for some sea life. Thank you Catriona for sharing your knowledge with us. :)
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| Click on the picture to learn more about seaweed |
It's really worth clicking on that picture above to learn more about seaweed. I didn't realise there was so much seaweed in NZ that we can eat. I wonder whether any of the seaweed around here is edible, or if the water is clean enough to make it safe?
ReplyDeleteHi Denise, great question. Yes you can eat lots of seaweed around here - there is Karengo (Pyropia) which is the seaweed used to make sushi - it grows on the rocks on Brighton beach and 2nd beach in winter. You can collect Karengo, and cook it up with Asian noodles and flavours. You can also eat bull kelp (Durvillaea), you can cook it up in a stew like potatoes (this is what they do in Chile). And you can eat bladder kelp too (Macrocystis) - dry it and flake it onto your food like salt.
DeleteIn fact, you can eat most seaweeed, they are not poisonous but you need to make sure you collect it from somewhere with clean seawater - do don't bother collectin it near a sewerage outfall!!
cheers, Catriona
We all learnt something new today. Seaweed is in toothpaste? Very interesting. Quinn
ReplyDeleteHi Quinn, it's true, seaweed is in toothpaste and the other thing is: CHOCOLATE MILK! Yes, if there was no seaweed (carageenan) in chocolate milk, all the chocolate would sink to the bottom of the bottle, and it would be white milk with a dark bit at the bottom. The seaweed is what suspends the chocolate in the milk. Seaweed is also used in medicines... like Pamol, it keeps the medicine suspended in the solution.
ReplyDeletecheers Catriona
thak you for teching room7 Catriona.
ReplyDeleteby Liam B.
she was realy interesting
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much
ReplyDeleteI did not know seaweed was in chocolate
ReplyDelete