大象传媒

The world鈥檚 waters form a single ocean, and throughout it, communities of Kelp choreograph their collective movement with unrelenting currents. Theirs is a dance of acceptance.

Kelp is an ecosystem engineer, providing crucial habitat for marine mammals, birds, and fish. Kelp acts as a refuge at the ocean鈥檚 surface鈥攐ffering food, shelter, and protection for seals and otters鈥攁nd a nursery on the seafloor鈥攑roviding spawning grounds, shade, and cooler water for baby fish. Kelp鈥檚 holdfast, or rootlike structure, can host more than 90 animal species. Zooplankton, for example鈥攆ull of the carotenoids that make salmon flesh pink鈥攁ppear at higher rates in Kelp forests than in the open ocean.

Kelp is nutrient-dense, generating more than 50 minerals and 100 different trace elements. This sea vegetable is 10 to 20 times higher in calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc than any land-based vegetable. For those of us who live above the surface, Kelp can support the thyroid, regulate metabolism, and restore energy levels. While Western culture has long overlooked and undervalued this nourishing, versatile, and once-abundant food, countless cultures and generations have incorporated seaweeds into their diets.

Thinking about Kelp transports naturopath Dr. Gary L. Ferguson II, Unangax虃 (Aleut), back to his childhood in Sand Point, Alaska. On these ancestral beaches, he learned to forage for delicacies from Unangax虃 Elders and his mother, Kristin Ferguson: 鈥淪he would always say, 鈥榃hen the tide is low, the table is set.鈥欌��

On one trip, Elder Nora Newman taught him how to remove the backbone from Ribbon Kelp and chop up the blades for a salad to accompany the rich harvest of Pidarki (mollusks) they pried off rocks. 鈥淲e would eat both of them right on the beach, raw and fresh,鈥� Ferguson recalls.

Today, Ferguson is the one doing the teaching. 鈥淢any of my Elders have moved on to that [spirit] realm, and it is now up to me as an 鈥楨lder in training鈥� to step up to the plate to make sure these traditions are not only written down but lived in experience,鈥� says Ferguson, who also works at Washington State University鈥檚 Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health. He feels strongly that youth 鈥渘eed to be connected to the land, the sea, and the amazing bounty we still have in the Aleutians.鈥�

In the Salish Sea, more than 20 species of Kelp create enormous underwater forests and swaths of surface canopy. Bullwhip Kelp is one of the fastest-growing plants in the sea and grows as much as 10 inches a day, reaching up to 115 feet.

Writer Owen L. Oliver, Quinault/Isleta Pueblo, envisions his Ancestors filling canoes with Bullwhip Kelp: 鈥淭he blades for eating, the bulbs for medicinal salves, and the stipes to be dried for twine.鈥� His Ancestors long stewarded these underwater ecosystems for themselves and their nonhuman kin. 鈥淭hey understood that healthy Kelp forests equaled healthy seas,鈥� Oliver says. 鈥淜elp is a relational hot spot for critters to gather and spawn.鈥�

Oliver describes how each spring, herring鈥檚 sticky eggs鈥攁 traditional delicacy along the Northwest coast鈥攅ncase blades of Kelp: 鈥淢illions of salty, protein-rich eggs can be harvested and eaten directly off the makeshift plate of the Kelp blades.鈥� But during our lifetime, waters are warming and acidifying; Kelp forests鈥攁nd herring鈥攁re vanishing. 鈥淎 cultural necessity before contact is now a cultural spectacle,鈥� Oliver says.

Around the global ocean, Kelp shares with us its ability to conjure life, manifest vitality, and bolster ocean health. We have much to learn from that ability and commitment to hold fast to life eternal鈥攂oth below the water鈥檚 surface and above. 

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Green Sea Salt Recipe

Naturally salty seaweed can be used as a seasoning to boost the flavor and nutrient profile of your meals. Mineral-rich nettles and milk thistle seeds in this recipe also support liver health. 

1/4 cup powdered Kelp
1/4 cup dried nettle leaves
1/4 cup milk thistle seeds
3 tablespoons sea salt

In a small bowl, combine Kelp, nettles, and milk thistle seeds with sea salt.聽
Store in an airtight glass jar and sprinkle small amounts on savory dishes, beans, and salads.聽

This article was updated at 12:17 p.m. PT on Sept. 4, 2023, to clarify that Dr. Gary L. Ferguson II is a naturopath not a nutritionist. Also, Owen L. Oliver鈥檚 ancestors were not in Alaska. 聽Read our corrections policy here.