Sunflower sea stars have arrived at the California Academy of Sciences for display and captive breeding. A bacterial cause of the star-wasting disease that decimated Northern California populations was recently identified. Academy teams transferred stars from Alaska and are breeding tens of thousands of juvenile stars in backroom tanks for potential reintroduction. Sunflower sea stars serve as a key predator of purple sea urchins. Declines in sea star numbers allowed urchin populations to explode and overgraze miles of kelp forest. Reintroducing sunflower stars could help reset the predator-prey balance and support kelp ecosystem recovery.
If you're going to make a splashy entrance, timing is everything -- and the recent arrival of sunflower sea stars at the California Academy of Sciences couldn't have hit it much better. The sea star population has been decimated along the Northern California coast for more than a decade. Academy scientists have been working on ways to bolster their numbers, finally catching a break when a separate research team pinpointed the bacteria that's been killing the Stars.
But in a backroom, filled with breeding tanks and swirling spatulas, Lev is also part of an Academy team that's breeding new stars for potential reintroduction. "So those are also sunflower stars," she said, pointing to tiny dots floating in tub. "So there are tens of thousands on this table. You know, in this bucket alone, if you look at every single little dot, you can see if you get really close. You can see some even have that star pattern."
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