The Ocean’s Balancing Act

Before 2013, Sunflower sea stars were very important to the health of the ocean. They were the cleaning crew in the ocean.

Their favourite food are is Sea urchins! Sea urchins are small, spiky creatures that look like round cushions. They love eating kelp, which is a type of large seaweed that grows in the ocean and looks like underwater trees.

By eating lots of sea urchins, the Sunflower sea stars kept the urchin population from getting too large. This was very important because if there are too many sea urchins, they eat too much kelp. And when kelp disappears, the whole underwater food chain would collapse.

However, between 2013 and 2017, billions of sea stars were killed by a bacteria. Scientists recently discovered the bacteria as their main cause of death. This led the sea urchin population to flourish. This in turn had a negative impact on underwater kelp forests, which urchins eat.

Ten years after this, scientists have now found another group of Sunflower sea stars off the California coast. This means there is hope that this rare type of starfish can make a comeback and for help with the recovery of the underwater kelp forest. This will keep help maintain balance in the food chains in the ocean ecosystem.