"When sea otters were reintroduced along the coastlines of islands in Southern California and British Columbia, researchers saw kelp forests return to areas that were destroyed by sea urchins. But how slow or fast they grew back depended on the location—and until now, scientists didn't understand why".
#seaurchins #otters #kelp #forests
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-sea-otters-kelp-forests-recover.html
Scientists film marine creatures under sea ice in East Antarctica
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-14/scientists-film-sealife-under-bunger-hills-east-antarctica/104811258
"Plunging to depths of up to 50m, the drone captures an array of colour and life. Red #SeaUrchins can be seen clinging to boulders covered in pink #algae. Orange #SeaCucumbers with small white tentacles are lying on the floor. #Jellyfish are floating above large yellow #sponges far below. Every now and again, schools of splotchy grey-and-white #fish surround the drone and try to nibble its camera."
#GoldenKelp, Ecklonia Radiata & #climatecrisis
1 hectare of kelp sequestering up to 18 tonnes of CO2 while producing oxygen through photosynthesis by converting sunlight, carbon dioxide, and nutrients into sugars for growth along #GreatSouthernReef 8,000km around NSW/Vic/SA/WA southern coastline,
#Underwaterforests vs #seaurchins
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-11/kelp-forests-sea-urchins-port-phillip-bay/104740450
“Helping the Bay” (?)
https://www.anl.com.au/news/2591/anl-launches-the-k-helping-the-bay-initiative-helping-to-restore-golden-kelp-forests-in-port-phillip-bay?
Sea urchins: A surprising delicacy for sharks https://phys.org/news/2024-10-sea-urchins-delicacy-sharks.html paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1418506/full
"#Lobsters are widely accepted as the key predator of #SeaUrchins, and this information has informed management strategies to control exploding #SeaUrchin numbers that threaten temperate #reefs... In a new study, a camera was set up in a #lobster den and sea urchins were strategically placed in it. Surprisingly, the majority of the sea urchins were eaten—not by lobsters—but by #sharks."
The Very Hungry Urchins https://hakaimagazine.com/features/the-very-hungry-urchins/
Researchers are restoring the #Caribbean’s surprising, spiky custodians, which gobble up the #algae smothering #CoralReefs... While overpopulated #SeaUrchins elsewhere are treated as villains, Diadema are the Caribbean’s unsung heroes... the urchins eat massive amounts of algae that would otherwise smother #corals or prevent #coral larvae from affixing to rocks and growing into colonies.
"The team is raising long-spined sea urchins, and partners are releasing them into struggling reefs in Florida and beyond with the goal of developing methods that can be applied at a large scale." —Lisa S. Gardiner for @hakaimagazine
New clam species discovered in South Africa's #kelp forest https://phys.org/news/2024-07-clam-species-south-africa-kelp.html paper: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/124517/
This small #clam, which is only 2 mm in length, spends its life crawling between the spines of #SeaUrchins. The #NewSpecies has so far only been found in one locality in #FalseBay, #SouthAfrica, where it was found attached to the burrowing #SeaUrchin Spatagobrissus mirabilis in coarse gravel at a depth of about 3 m. It has not been observed free-living, without the host urchin.
Underwater gardeners work to restore majestic #kelp forests off Vancouver Island
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/underwater-gardeners-work-to-restore-majestic-kelp-forests-off-vancouver-island-9161135
"In the chilly waters of #VancouverIsland's #BarkleySound, gardeners are at work on the sea floor. They are #scientists from the #UniversityOfVictoria who are trying to regrow #KelpForests, a crucial part of the marine habitat, amid threats from #HeatWaves, #ClimateChange and voracious #SeaUrchins."
B.C.’s kelp forests are declining, but scientists are fighting back
https://www.cloverdalereporter.com/news/bcs-kelp-forests-are-declining-but-scientists-are-fighting-back-7430180
"#Restoration of #KelpForests lost to #ocean #HeatWaves and overgrazing #SeaUrchins is underway off #VancouverIsland’s coastlines with guidance from local researchers... To kickstart their restoration work, divers are planting two species of canopy-forming #kelp... The project team is also trying to understand why some pockets of kelp have survived, and if they can be transferred into other areas"
Sea urchin larvae can get nutrition from molecules dissolved in seawater https://oceanbites.org/whats-on-your-plate/
Integrative biological analyses of responses to food deprivation reveal resilience mechanisms in #SeaUrchin larvae https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.17120
"these #larvae feed on dissolved organic matter — basically just any of the organic goop found in #seawater... This way, even when regular food is unavailable, #SeaUrchins can gain sufficient energy from molecules in the seawater itself. The sea is soup."
Scientists Find Pristine Ecosystems on High-Seas Seamounts
https://schmidtocean.org/scientists-find-pristine-ecosystems-on-high-seas-seamounts/
"scientists observed 160 species on the Salas y Gómez Ridge that had not yet been known in the region and suspect that at least 50 of them are new to science. These are #squid, #fish, #corals, #mollusks, #SeaStars, glass #sponges, #SeaUrchins, crabs, and squat #lobsters, amongst others. They set a record for sighting the deepest-known #photosynthesis-dependent animal in the world: #Leptoseris, a wrinkle #coral."
Underwater Mountains Harbor Abundant Life Off Chile’s Coast
https://schmidtocean.org/underwater-mountains-harbor-abundant-life/
"#scientists may have discovered more than 100 #NewSpecies living on #seamounts off the coast of #Chile. The recent #SchmidtOceanInstitute expedition resulted in identifying #DeepSea #corals, glass #sponges, #SeaUrchins, #amphipods, squat #lobsters, and other species likely #NewToScience."
Pacific #KelpForests are way older than we thought
https://www.futurity.org/pacific-kelp-forests-age-3167012/
Early #Oligocene kelp holdfasts and stepwise #evolution of the kelp ecosystem in the North Pacific https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2317054121
"#kelp flourished off the US Northwest Coast more than 32 million years ago, long before the appearance of modern groups of marine #mammals, #SeaUrchins, #birds, and #bivalves that today call the forests home."
#ClimateCrisis: #SeaUrchins are struggling to get a grip as #ClimateChange alters ecosystems https://phys.org/news/2023-08-sea-urchins-struggling-climate-ecosystems.html
#Hyposalinity reduces coordination and adhesion of sea urchin tube feet https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/226/13/jeb245750/321194/Hyposalinity-reduces-coordination-and-adhesion-of
"Even a slight change in salinity can affect the ability of sea urchins to attach their tube feet to their surroundings... They rely on their adhesive structures to move in the wave-battered rocky area near the seashore... Without urchins, #CoralReefs can become overgrown with #algae"
Mystery sea urchin deaths threaten Red Sea coral reefs
A town in western Japan has turned the hatpin urchin, seen as a nuisance of the ocean as it devours seaweed, into a local delicacy. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2023/06/09/food/urchins-marine-delicacy/?utm_content=buffer58a40&utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=bffmstdn #life #fooddrink #ehime #seaurchins #uni
A library children's book published in 2020, written by Theresa Emminizer.
What If #SeaUrchins Disappeared?
Life Without Animals
"From the fiercest predator to the lowliest plant, every member of an ecosystem is immeasurably important to the survival of their environment. Although they're not regarded as a keystone species, sea urchins play a pivotal role in maintaining healthy marine environments. Without #seaurchins to consume #algae, entire coral reef ecosystems could collapse."
Available as an e-book at this link:
https://garethstevens.com/title/What-If-Sea-Urchins-Disappeared
