Kelp is essential to oceans, providing a habitat for numerous marine life and keeping the ocean clean by trapping carbon.

Killer whales have been seen detaching lengths of seaweed and using them to massage each other—the first evidence of tool-making by marine mammals. The whales bite off the end of a kelp stalk, ...

One business wants to use kelp to replace the plastic film on detergent pods. Another is creating an alternative to plastic twine.