bull kelp

noun

plural bull kelps

: any of various very large brown algae (such as of the genera Durvillaea and Nereocystis)

especially : a large kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) found chiefly from Alaska to California that often forms dense stands, may reach a length of 130 feet (40 meters), and has a single large gas-filled air bladder at the end of the stipe from which arise two clusters of long narrow blades

The bull kelp forests off Northern California are sometimes spoken of as the redwoods of the sea.

—David Helvarg

Examples of bull kelp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Down here, forests are made of giant kelp, which is a perennial species, versus bull kelp in Northern California, which is an annual species. —Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Jan. 2024

Antoni pulls the bull kelp from the water by attaching a long metal hook to a buoy and then grabbing the rope it’s attached to hand over hand. —Juliet Eilperin, Anchorage Daily News, 31 July 2023

In March, a few weeks before Antoni and his partners planned to harvest their sugar and bull kelp, two anchors on the edge of the farm ended up in the middle, tangling several lines. —Juliet Eilperin, Anchorage Daily News, 31 July 2023

The next morning, Thomas and Gangell guide us on a walk along a stretch of windswept, powder-white sand beach, dotted with shark eggs, abalone shells, and thick bull kelp that Gangell gathers up in his arms. —Nina Karnikowski, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Dec. 2022

Smith suggests that the account describes Southern Ocean bull kelp and icebergs among other features of life in the sub-Antarctic, the study says. —Saphora Smith, NBC News, 11 June 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined above