Sargassum

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Originating in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North America, this macroalgae sometimes washes into shallow water close to shore - where these specimens were found - or even up on the beach with the wrack.
These photographs show Sargassum natans, known commonly as narrowleaf sargasso, spiny gulfweed or common gulfweed. The small round structures are bubbles that allow the sargasso to float near he surface where it drifts with the ocean currents.
Sargassum is a brown algae of the Class Phaeophyceae and in the Family Sargassaceae (Sargassum and Allies).