Neptune’s Necklace (Hormosira bansi), also known as sea grapes or bubbleweed, is made up of fronds of water-filled beads attached to the substrate by a thin disc (holdfast). When foraged responsibly, it makes a healthy addition to your diet and your soil.
Neptune’s Necklace is found in the rocky intertidal zone from Albany in Western Australia through to northern New South Wales, and around Tasmania and New Zealand. It can also be often found free-floating among mangroves.
It can be harvested all year round but is at its most prolific in the cooler months. Like all seaweeds, Neptune’s Necklace provides important protective habitat for lots of species, offering both moisture at low tide and shade. Reducing its canopy by as little as as 25 percent can dramatically impact the animals residing within it.