A lonely clump of Hydroclathrus drifts through the water like a single cloud floating aimlessly through an angry sky. Being a primary producer it is the basis of the food chain. Hydroclathrus directly or indirectly feeds almost everything in the marine world. Algae, like Hydroclathrus, can also be used to feed humans and in some cultures algae are considered a delicacy.

-Alisa Urabe

Algae are important to the intertidal food web because they are a primary producer. Algae are the beginning of the food web. Without algae all the species would die since species that eat algae would starve; species that eat that creature would also die and so on. Flowing like the wind are the algae swaying in the intertidal. They look like grass growing on rocks as they blow along like a breeze of wind going through every strand of your hair. They live in a community of sponges, shrimp, and different species like a neighborhood filled with families of different kinds.

-Jinelle Loejo

Sticking to rocks like honey on a tree, algae, a primary producer, take in sunlight for energy and they are food for many small invertebrates in the intertidal. As primary producers algae are at the bottom of the food chain. Taking in sunlight by photosynthesis, they get their energy to provide food for small invertebrates. As there are many other invertebrates in the intertidal, algae are one of the most important parts in the food web.

-Kendal Tanigawa

A slimy cloud of algae, like a spy, silently watches as it is gently anchored to a rock while it creates life for itself through photosynthesis with energy from the sun. Algae are not only a large primary producer for other organisms but also an ingredient in our everyday food called carrageen or alginate. So if we don’t keep our green helper alive and healthy, other organisms will not have a food source and the intertidal food web will collapse while other organisms overpopulate and others die out.

-Orange Quero

A tuft of olive-colored Dictyosphaeria algae is plucked from a lava rock shelf. The algae have been basking in the sun absorbing some of the rays of Sharks Cove. Dictyosphaeria took over Kaneohe Bay in the 50s & 60s after the sewers overflowed and the algae, spreading like wildfire, were over-nitrified. The algae drowned and hedged resources from other algae in the bay. In the intertidal other algae can be seen rooted to rocks or gracefully swaying and billowing in the cool currents.

-Brooke Power & Crisann Spencer

Like a child gripping the chair in a dentist’s waiting room, most algae cling onto rocks and stay there until someone or something pries it off. Attached to a solid foundation this algae, known as Ulva, is also referred to as the sea lettuce. They photosynthesize and feed many other organisms. Were the algae extinct, it would eventually destroy the entire intertidal food chain. The food chain needs producers like algae because they are the beginning of the food web and without the beginning the entire intertidal food chain as we know it would not exist.

-Krystal Sheng

This leafy-green algae, which is scientifically known as Ulva, are a food source for other intertidal animals such as limpets, crabs, and blennies. They also photosynthesize and produce their own source of food. If the algae didn’t make their own food, then the predators wouldn’t be able to eat because there would be no algae to feed on. Algae produce and without producers the food chain wouldn’t exist. This is because producers are the beginning of the food chain. The Ulva bonds with the rock while the ocean water pushes it to do the wave. It dances in a club full of teenagers out on a Sunday night. The roots interlock forcefully while escaping outwards. It relaxes softly while creeping in the thick water. The Ulva’s smooth fronds are like a baby's behind. It shimmers in the sunlight while the cool water soothes its thin body.

-Reesene Choy