Nature · Study 032
Kelp Forest
A quiet underwater scene: kelp strands sway in the swell, shafts of light drift down and small fish swim around your pointer.
What you're looking at
Every kelp strand is a chain of short segments. Each segment's angle follows a sine wave that travels up the strand, growing stronger toward the tip, which gives the slow whip of a plant anchored at one end. Blades alternate along the stem, and bubbles rise at their own speeds.
The idea behind it
Giant kelp can grow tens of centimetres in a day and forms forests that shelter fish, urchins and otters. The motion here uses a travelling wave because that is how flexible things move in water: the current bends the base first and the bend runs outward.
Try this
Move the pointer near the fish and they'll swim out of your way.
