Doctor Seaweed often writes about the many seaweed benefits and good seaweed supply.
But are we, people, the only ones who love seaweed so much?
Take a look at these animals that eat algae (the massive group that seaweed – aka macroalgae – sits in) every day and love it as much as we do.
The first on our list is green sea turtles who adore sea vegetables. No wonder their jaws have jagged edges so that they can cut through nutritious seaweed.
The next is the humble hermit crab as they are big seaweed fans, just like crayfish and lobsters. Their claws are perfectly designed for grabbing sea plants!
And who would have thought that Scottish sheep are fond of seaweed as well? The special sheep in the north of Scotland may eat as much as four kilos per day! What is really fascinating, these unique animals can live on seaweed for several months without eating anything else!
Some marine lizards also feed on this food of the future. For example, young or female marine iguanas find seaweed on rocks while males usually find sea grass on the bottom of the sea as they are good divers.
Fish can eat it too. For example, butterfish are able to bite off chunks of algae as their jaws are adapted for biting big into the seaweed. Also, parrotfish who live on coral reefs are also well known for unusual eating habits as algae is their main diet. And last but not least, surgeonfish is another plant-eating fish that prefer brown seaweed, that is the reason why they always attempt to defend a territory.
Lets go for a really random one now…arctic foxes, polar bears and seals also love seaweed, even if they would usually opt for eating fish.
Seaweed Benefits Your Pets Too
If you are not surprised by these seaweed loving animals, it would not surprise you to know that pets and other domesticated animals also benefit from the nutritional properties of seaweed for general health, prebiotic benefits and healthy coats, to name but a few. Dogs, horses and even cats…here is a funny video proof: enjoy!
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