{"id":2357,"date":"2026-09-11T18:04:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=2357"},"modified":"2026-09-11T18:11:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T18:11:01","slug":"spore-than-meets-the-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=2357","title":{"rendered":"Spore than meets the eye"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Shane Farrell (left) and Dara Yiu (right), former University of Maine PhD students in Doug Rasher’s lab, prepare for a dive survey to collect samples (Credit: 
Rene Francolini<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From microscopic spores to sprawling forests \u2014 sugar kelp plays a big role in the Gulf of Maine, providing rich habitat, food, and clean water. It\u2019s also the bedrock of Maine\u2019s kelp aquaculture industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fishermen harvest skinny kelp from lines off Chebeague

Island (Credit: Atlantic Sea Farms and New England Ocean Cluster<\/em>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A new study led by Bigelow Laboratory <\/strong>researchers provides the most comprehensive assessment of the species\u2019 genetic diversity to date, while also mapping population structure along the coast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team identified four distinct populations and a wealth of genetic variation \u2014 which could hold potential for innovation in kelp aquaculture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read the Story<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From microscopic spores to sprawling forests \u2014 sugar kelp plays a big role in the Gulf of Maine, providing rich habitat, food, and clean water. It\u2019s also the bedrock of Maine\u2019s kelp aquaculture industry. A new study led by Bigelow Laboratory researchers provides the most comprehensive assessment of the species\u2019 genetic diversity to date, while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[71,51,66,27,18,32],"class_list":["post-2357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-changing-oceans","tag-blue-economy","tag-doug-rasher","tag-ecosystem","tag-gulf-of-maine","tag-maine","tag-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2357"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2357\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}