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With nearly 200 Observations of this, I can't help thinking that Observers here are missing a trick, usually posting only one distant photo of this, one of the most structurally interesting seaweeds.
Plocamium cartilagineum occurs around the World, from Antarctica to Iceland and British Columbia, Japan and Patagonia to New Zealand, in one form or another. Ignoring the difficulties of separating a Californian version (Plocamium cartilagineum ssp. pacificum) from the rare UK one (Plocamium maggsiae) and three or four others with minor microscopic differences (www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09670262.2011.565129) and (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09670260500192935) It is an easy ID from the little combs.
Sure enough it has a complex and taxing taxonomy but a simple overall morphology - in short, they could all be called Comb Weed or what we, in the UK, call Cock's-comb. A couple of close photos and almost immediately it'll be good enough for Research Grade