Elk Horn Kelp
Elk Horn Kelp is a shy ocean fauna that rarely comes to the surface intact.
But today, wrapped tightly around my boat's mooring line, I spied a large Elk Horn Kelp trying to garner my attention. At first I thought it was a problem. With so much flotation, I thought, it wouldn't allow the mooring line to drop to the bottom of the ocean away from my props and would create all kinds of trouble and grief.
For 24 hours, this kelp remained tightly wrapped around the mooring line. In the morning light I saw it differently than I'd seen it the day before and I retrieved my camera. I saw beauty in its form, the way light caressed it amidst the colorful waters in one of Catalina's hidden coves.
Slowly, when it had my attention, it started unraveling itself from the mooring line and I photographed it with new interest.
Not satisfied with these images, I waited. Slowly but surely the kelp completely unwound itself and began drifting away. For a brief few moments it unfolded itself, showing the beauty of an underwater world that came to the surface for a few brief hours.
