A Prickly Problem with Sea Urchins

Beneath the waves, once towering kelp beds are collapsing from an unprecedented perfect storm that has been brewing below the surface. First, a massive epidemic wiped out sea stars, then a marine heatwave and El Niño, and now an explosion of sea urchins. Read More

Sea Stars: Tigers of the Tidepools

A few years ago Oregon’s intertidal zone was stacked with sea stars. Their brilliant bodies splashing red, orange, and purple color across rock surfaces when the tide receded. Now, fewer tidepools are brightened by these critters since the outbreak of sea star wasting syndrome occurred along the West Coast.

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