August 09, 2013

sea-ya at Duxbury Reef


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photo by Donald Kinney

Far-out and isolated... Yeah, but good luck finding the place. But I suppose it is more fun that Duxbury Reef is off the beaten path.



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photo by Donald Kinney

All up and down the coast is kelp--giant forests that we see only the tops. These flat "leaves" are suspended by the buoyant air-filled bulb, on left...



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photo by Donald Kinney

...while tentacles hold-fast, quite tenaciously, to rock 30 or 40 feet below.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Kelp is in LOTS of things. The iodine kelp contains is said to be a cure for goiter. Also is used widely in Asian cooking. A kelp-derived carbohydrate (alginate) is used to thicken products such as ice cream, jelly, salad dressing, and toothpaste. Makes a great emulsifier and is non-toxic so it slips into a LOT of our food products, such the gooey stuff inside a Twinkie.

From the early 1970's to the mid-80's I worked as a paint-maker for a small company that made a water-base textile printing ink; Versatex. The formula has changed since then, but one of our ingredients was a certain amount of kelp powder, which I premixed with water to form a thick gel. Its purpose in our paint was to keep aqueous components homogenous and in suspension with the other ingredients, preventing "migration" or bleeding of the ink.


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2 comments:

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Those kelp pictures are nice, especially that last one.

Sparkle Plenty said...

Great photos, as always, Donald! For some reason, that kelp is making me super hungry for noodles. Be well! Sparkle Plenty

 
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