In California, an artist and “mycologist” has crossed 26 miles of ocean in a kayak made of mycelium, the root system of mushrooms.
Sam Shoemaker made the record-setting, twelve-hour journey from Catalina Island to San Pedro in August, persevering amid seasickness and curiosity from a fin whale.
“It was just like a psychedelic experience,” Shoemaker told The Guardian.
Shoemaker used a conventional, fiberglass kayak to serve as a mold, growing Ganoderma polychromum mycelium for almost a month. The fungi kayak was then dried over several months.
He hopes the voyage will spur interest in mycelium as a plastics alternative.