Hope for west coast kelp beds – one sunflower sea star at a time
Decades ago, I was fortunate to spend seemingly endless hours diving in California’s lush kelp beds. I was always delighted to see this huge, fuzzy, & speedy sunflower sea star. It looked so harmless but they strike terror in urchins and abalone, because of how fast & voracious they are as predators. As a result they are a keystone species critical to a healthy kelp bed.
Unfortunately, in a massive infection of sea stars by a wasting disease that started in 2013, over 20 species of sea stars were impacted. By 2015, sunflower sea stars had been particularly hard hit with roughly 99% of individuals dying a horrible death as they simply fell apart. This loss of the sunflower sea star coupled with a warmer & more acidic ocean water decimated west coast kelp beds.
But, this (~ 1 hour) video provides
a ray of sunshine through the kelp. It discusses the roll of the sunflower sea star in a healthy kelp ecosystem, explains why it was nearly eliminated from our kelp beds, and describes how this consortium of groups and volunteers are cultivating sunflower sea stars in the lab. Their eventual goal is to replant them into the kelp beds and restore a more balanced ecosystem.
The cultivation program is ambitious and challenging, but the teams are reporting good success.
A healthy kelp ecosystem is critical to a healthy ocean and balanced marine ecosystem. We must couple this type of directed research with on-going efforts to stop burning fossil fuels and heating our oceans (& the rest of the planet) if we are to have any real hope of leaving a planet suitable for subsequent generations. So, please write your elected officials & demand action on climate, stop using fossil fuels ASAP, and support these sorts of scientific efforts to undo the damages that continue to threaten our fragile ecosystems.
As always, please let me know your thoughts about this topic. And, if you know someone else who would like to receive these emails, please let me know.
Cheers, Bill
