Ever wonder who plays the role of grass in the oceans? Flying eastward from Los Angeles to Washington D.C., urban scenes soon turn into the spare and spectacular brown vistas of the western United States. Aerial views of the Mojave Desert and parts of the Grand Canyon are well worth window seats. A few hours further into an eastbound flight and the scenery transforms again into the plush greenness of the Midwestern, then New England states.

Whether lush in the east or spare in the west, terrestrial vegetation such as grasses and trees play the key role of converting sunlight and nutrients into food that sustains almost all other life on earth. What sustains life in the oceans? Is there grass in the oceans?

Support for this project provided by: California Sea Grant project number E/G-12-PD, California Space Institute, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography