Hello all, On our 4-month old lines, we see these dimples/indentations on some blades. Our lines are at 6.5 feet deep. Is it something to worry about? Do you know what may be the cause (hopefully not a sign of low salinity)?
@jamie_lee We haven't seen that on any of our kelp on the east coast. @tiffany_stephens85 and others in Alaska have been working on a project around kelp diseases (and weird morphological or environmental responses). Tiffany, have you seen dimples like this on other kelp?
@jamie_lee If you have another pic with a close up that would help. I believe that those are caused by low salinity. You can experiment with this, place a blade of kelp in fresh water and wait, it doesn't take long for the little "dimples" or blisters to appear. Given certain conditions, such as heavy rainfall and calm conditions, freshwater lenses can form. You could possibly avoid this by sinking your lines deeper during/after a major rain event. It's not harmful, do you see deterioration occurring because of the dimples? If not it's probably harmless unless your buyer sees it as a flaw.
@jamie_lee We haven't seen that on any of our kelp on the east coast. @tiffany_stephens85 and others in Alaska have been working on a project around kelp diseases (and weird morphological or environmental responses). Tiffany, have you seen dimples like this on other kelp?
@jamie_lee If you have another pic with a close up that would help. I believe that those are caused by low salinity. You can experiment with this, place a blade of kelp in fresh water and wait, it doesn't take long for the little "dimples" or blisters to appear. Given certain conditions, such as heavy rainfall and calm conditions, freshwater lenses can form. You could possibly avoid this by sinking your lines deeper during/after a major rain event. It's not harmful, do you see deterioration occurring because of the dimples? If not it's probably harmless unless your buyer sees it as a flaw.