Bladder Wrack (fucus vesiculosus)

Finally, after a long wait, I have the time to write again! I'll start this autumn by writing about the bladder wrack. So why write about a simple sea weed? The bladder wrack is an important part of its eco-system, it has commercial implications, and it has medicinal qualities. So it is not simply a plant growing on the bottom of the sea.

Bladder Wrack, reaching for sun light

It has been a long time since I have had a chance to update this little blog. In fact, it has been a long time since I have had a chance to write anything at all. This summer has been about the most hectic and work-filled summer ever for me, so I have been forced to put all non-work-related past-times (including diving, unfortunately)on hold for a couple of months. However, that is now behind, and I will again be able to write here on a more regular basis.

So, getting to the topic at hand, the bladder wrack is found in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, as well as in the Northern Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. It grows on rocks and rocky bottoms in shallow water, often in places where it is exposed at low tide. The bladder wrack is firmly attached to the rocky bottom by a holdfast.

The bladder wrack normally grows to about 30-60 centimeters, but can grow up to a meter tall. It has a flat,leathery stalk, brownish green in colour, with distinctive air bladders. It is these air bladders that it gets its name from. These are buyoant and so keep the seaweed upright, as it stands on the bottom of the sea. Despite its plant-like appearance, the bladder wrack is not, in fact, a plant at all, but a species of brown algae. The bladder wrack is perrenial, and can live for up to ten years. It reproduces annually.

The bladder wrack gets its name from its distinctive air bladders

It is a crucial part of the eco-system in the Baltic Sea as it provides nutrition, shelter and breeding areas for many, many small crustaceans and fish species. However, the amounts of bladder wrack in the Baltic Sea have declined in recent years. It is threatened by eutrophication that is mainly caused by pollution. Because bladder wrack plays such a vital role, changes in its numbers are likely to have a profound effect on the entire fragile eco-system of the Baltic Sea.

The bladder wrack normally grows to about 30-60 centimeters, but can grow up to a meter tall

The bladder wrack is harvested commercially in some parts of the world. It is used for fertilizer, livestock fodder, and for medicinal and nutritional purposes. The bladder wrack is edible and nutricious, and contains plenty of vitamin-C. The internet is, however, already full of sites advertising all kinds of seaweed products, so I won't go any deeper into that area. Anyone interested will find hundreds of pages about the nutritional values by doing a quick search on your favourite search engine.

Nice to be writing again! Will update this blog again quite soon. If you have any comments or thoughts, I'd love to read about them. Just leave a comment below. Thanks!!