Botanist - Plant Life in the Ocean
Kelp - Kelp is a long brown seaweed that typically has a long, tough stalk. Kelp grows in cold coastal waters. It is the largest marine plant in the world and can reach up to a height of 250 feet. Kelp is the fastest-growing plant in the world! It lives on the surface of the ocean, and it stays afloat with the help of flotation bubbles that support it. A variety of fish live in the whole water column from top to bottom. They are also attracted to sections of kelp where their favorite food is and it provides a safe place to hide when a predator is coming.
Seaweed - Seaweed is a large algae growing in the sea or in the rocks below the high-water mark. Seaweed is a multicellular marine algae, and it also comes in various colors including red, brown, and green algae. Seaweed has been harvested by humans for thousands of years as food, material for housing, rope and baskets. It is even used as medication. A very large quantity of seaweed can choke up the coral reefs. Fish help prevent this problem by eating the seaweed.
Seagrass - Seagrass is a grass like plant that lives in or close to the sea. Seagrass grows in shallow water because it needs a lot of water and sunlight to grow. They are true flowering plants. Seagrass provides a habitat for small fish and other small marine life (for example, a lobster). These animals are able to hide from predators and find food in an easier and safer way.
Red Algae - Red algae is a large group of algae that includes seaweed that are mainly the color red. The reason why red algae is red is because blue light penetrates water to a greater depth than light of longer wavelengths, these pigments turn red from the lighting. Red algae is harvested as food, mainly in Africa. They eat this because it has a great source of vitamins and a high protein content (some fish eat this too).
Coralline Algae - Coralline algae is a branching reddish seaweed. Coralline algae consists of very fine filaments that grow over rocks. These plants seem more like rocks than plants, and they are as hard as cement. No animal in the ocean can eat this plant because of its cement like content. But this plant does help maintain and support the structure of many coral reefs. Coralline algae can grow in almost every condition from warm climate to cold places, a few inches deep to a couple hundred feet deep, in very intense lighting to very dim lighting, etc. This plant also comes in various colors including purple, pink, green, yellow, and blue.
Phytoplankton - Phytoplankton is typically a unicellular plant, and they drift through the ocean, usually on the surface. The plankton consists many microscopic plants. Through the use of photosynthesis, they draw on the power of the sun to survive and they produce the raw materials they need to exist. Phytoplankton lives on the surface of the water for photosynthesis and survival, and to trace the water flow that makes solar energy (with the sun).
Mangroves - Mangroves are a tree or shrub that grows in tropical or warm temperature oceans (usually on shore and/or land). Mangroves typically have numerous tangled roots and form dense thickets. Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish and is a food sources for other animals. They range from long, small shrubs to 200 hundred feet high timber trees. These plants can usually only maintain health in warm climates, but only a few hardy types have adapted to harsher climates.