Rare sea stars make a comeback
Scientists say these "sea-squatches" are hugely important for the recovery of underwater kelp forests
- Published
Scientists have found a group of healthy Sunflower sea stars in Californian waters off the coast of the United States.
The discovery comes ten years after it was thought the species had been killed off by a disease.
There is now hope that this rare type of starfish can make a comeback - and they can even help underwater kelp forests recover, which is good news for our planet.
Find out more about these unlikely spiky superheroes of the sea below...
Starfish arms are also their heads!
- Published6 November 2023
Look at this weird 'ravioli' starfish
- Published12 July 2019
Starfish make amazing recovery
- Published26 June 2018
Sunflower sea stars are huge - some can grow up to almost a metre wide, or about the height of an average three-year-old child!
They also have lots of arms... or are they legs? Let's call them rays!
They can grow as many as 24 rays, helping them to move surprisingly fast across the ocean floor.
Kelp forests, like this one off the coast of Mexico, are key habitats for hundreds of marine species
These starfish - although they are not technically fish - used to play an important role in the balance of the ocean's ecosystem.
They helped to keep the sea urchin population under control, as urchins are the main part of their diet.
However, between 2013 and 2017, billions of sea stars were killed by what scientists now know to be a type of bacteria.
This led to sea urchin populations flourishing and this in turn had an impact on underwater kelp forests, which urchins eat.
Kelp forests provide shelter and food for over 800 species of marine life, including fish, sharks and sea otters.
The forests also play a huge role in absorbing carbon dioxide, which helps fight climate change.
The new discovery of 18 Sunflower sea stars leads scientists to hope they can be a potential tool for kelp forest recovery too.