Kelp Forest

Sway, sway, sway in the cool blue water. Do you see how the sunlight dances all around me? Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle. I am a tall, wavy home under the sea, a special kind of forest where little fish love to play tag. My long, green leaves tickle them as they swim by. I am a Kelp Forest.

I am made of a giant, leafy seaweed called kelp. Forests like me are very, very old. We first started growing millions of years ago, a long, long time before people were here. I grow so fast. I can stretch up, up, up toward the sunshine, sometimes growing as tall as a grown-up in just one month. I am a busy, busy home. My friends live with me. You can see sleepy sea otters holding hands so they don’t float away. You can see colorful fish playing hide-and-seek in my leaves. And you can see spiky little sea urchins nibbling on my stems for a snack. It is a happy, bubbly place to be.

I am a very important home. I keep all my friends safe and cozy. My long leaves are a perfect hiding place for tiny fish and baby seals. People can visit my cousins in big, beautiful aquariums, or they can see forests like me from boats in the clear, cool ocean water. I love being a beautiful, safe home for all my ocean friends. When you help keep the ocean clean, you help me stay strong and sparkly, so I can keep waving hello to the sun.