Kuannik • Kelp

General

There are four dominant species of kelp in the Eastern Canadian Arctic region: sieve kelp (Agarum clathratum), shark's blanket/dabberlocks (Alaria esculenta), arctic suction-cup kelp (Laminaria solidungula) and sea belt/sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima). (Goldsmit et al., 2021). 

Indigenous Knowledge

kuannik 'Kelp type of edible seaweed (alaria kelp, Alaria esculenta ) [Inuit eat centre stem 2-3 centimetres wide].' (Nunatsiavummiutut, Labrador Virtual Museum Inuttut-English dictionary)

Southern Scientific

Alaria esculenta 'Alaria esculenta is an edible seaweed, also known as dabberlocks or badderlocks, or winged kelp. It is a traditional food along the coasts of the far north Atlantic Ocean. It may be eaten fresh or cooked in Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Ireland. It is the only one of twelve species of Alaria to occur in both Ireland and in Great Britain.

[...] Grows to a maximum length of 2 m. The whole frond is brown and consists of a distinct midrib with wavy membranous lamina up to 7 cm wide on either side. The frond is unbranched[1] and tapers towards the end. The base has a short stipe arising from a rhizoidal holdfast. The stipe may bear several sporophylls which are club-shaped and up to 20 cm long and 5 cm broad which bear the spores.

It grows from a short cylindrical stipe attached to the rocks by a holdfast of branching root-like rhizoids and grows to about 20 cm long. The stipe is continued into the frond forming a long conspicuous midrib, all other large and unbranched brown algae to be found in the British Isles are without a mid-rib. The lamina is thin, membranous with a wavy margin.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaria_esculenta)

kelp 'Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms.

Kelp grows in "underwater forests" (kelp forests) in shallow oceans, and is thought to have appeared in the Miocene, 5 to 23 million years ago. The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between 6 and 14 °C (43 and 57 °F). They are known for their high growth rate—the genera Macrocystis and Nereocystis can grow as fast as half a metre a day, ultimately reaching 30 to 80 metres (100 to 260 ft).' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelp)

 

Citations:

Goldsmit, J., Schlegel, R. W., Filbee-Dexter, K., MacGregor, K. A., Johnson, L. E., Mundy, C. J., Savoie, A. M., McKindsey, C. W., Howland, K. L., & Archambault, P. (2021). Kelp in the Eastern Canadian Arctic: Current and future predictions of habitat suitability and cover. Frontiers in Marine Science, 18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.742209

Main Photo Credit: Lucy Mary Qavvik
Second Photo Credit: Dabberlocks by aleshadoyle, 2021. https://inaturalist.ca/photos/143854181. Licenced with CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/.
Third Photo Credit: Sea belt by Carter Dorscht, 2022. https://inaturalist.ca/photos/202676421. Licenced with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0.
Fourth photo credit: Sieve kelp by Andrew Simon, 2022. https://inaturalist.ca/photos/233263575. Licenced with CC BY-NC 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/.