Ecklonia maxima, sea bamboo, is a species of kelp

Kelp

Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....

 native to the southern oceans. It is most typically found along the southern Atlantic coast

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 of Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, from the very south of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 north to Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. In these areas the species dominates the shallow, (up to 8 m) temperate-water kelp forest

Kelp forest

Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds....

s offshore.

From the holdfast

Holdfast

A holdfast is a root-like structure that anchors aquatic sessile organisms, such as seaweed, other sessile algae, stalked crinoids, benthic cnidarians, and sponges, to the substrate. ...

 attached to a rock or the large holdfast of another kelp, a single long stipe

Stipe (botany)

In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which taxonomic group is being described....

 rises to the surface waters, where a single large pneumatocyst

Pneumatocyst

In phycology, a pneumatocyst is a large float containing gas found in brown algae. An organism may have more than one. They provide buoyancy to lift the blades toward the surface, allowing them to receive more sunlight for photosynthesis....

 holds a tangle of blades at the surface.

The species is of economic importance: it is harvested for both an agricultural supplement and as food for abalone

Abalone

Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...

raised on farms.