Popweed

For some time, Lynn has been in competition with visiting kids to see who can find the biggest popweed bladder (Knotted Wrack, Ascophyllum nodosum) on the foreshore. Until a few weeks ago the winner was this nicely-marked specimen:-

Then someone came up with this one, plainer perhaps, but a good deal bigger:-

And today Lynn found this monster:-

(The reason for the existence of these gas-filled bladders is that Knotted Wrack grows relatively far down the inter-tidal shore, and in deep water they allow the fronds to float more or less vertically, maximising their exposure to sunlight.)