Sunflower Starfish – Tragic Extinction, or Phenomenal Rediscovery?

Sunflower sea stars are vital to the marine environment and food chain. They feed on sea urchins to keep them from wiping out kelp, which is essential to the aquatic world. Although they are an essential species to ensure for kelp survival, they are were thought to have gone extinct in 2016.

But much to the astonishment of many scientists, it appears that they did not. Scientists have found a healthy group of 18 sunflower sea stars living in Californian waters off the west coast of the United States. The revolutionary discovery of these resilient starfish giants increases the hope that the kelp that provides shelter and food for over 800 species of marine life may live after all.

Sunflower sea stars can grow to be a meter tall, and can have as many as 24 arms (rays). They were thought to be extinct because of the sea star wasting disease that murdered countless sea stars. Between 2013 and 2017, an estimated five billion sunflower sea stars were thought to have died from this treacherous disease. Thankfully, and much to the relief of all, some sunflower sea stars are still alive and helping maintain the balance and order of the food chain.