Sea urchin overgrazing can turn kelp forests into “urchin barrens,” dramatically reducing #biodiversity.

This happens when #predators decline and warming seas stress #kelp, letting #urchins multiply and consume new growth before it can recover, yet another indicator of a changing #climate. 🌱🌊

Just a very happy #seaotter at the
@orcoastaquarium.bsky.social
🦦💪💜 Schu is using the glass as a tool to open up those juicy sea urchins!

#cuteanimals #otters #seaotters #urchins #oregoncoast #oregon

#Urchins

print of silhouette of a fish on a green background with pink collage sea urchins upper left and lower right corner.

Slide by.
Original gelli/stencil/collage pretending to be a note card.

Digging through the recent archives.

#fish #urchins #gelliprint #collage #art #kunst #sciart
#staywell #bekind #gofish go

A silent ocean pandemic is wiping out sea urchins worldwide A sudden, unexplained mass die-off is decimating sea urchins around the world, including catastrophic losses in the Canary Islands. Key reef-grazing species are reaching historic lows, and their…

CORAL REEF NEWS: A silent ocean pandemic is wiping out sea urchins worldwide

Read full story here: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

#coralreefs #seaurchins #urchins #pandemic #coralreefhealth #coral #ecosystemhealth #ecosystemresilience #marineecology #marinebiology

Sea urchin species on brink of extinction after marine pandemic Ecologically important Diadema africanum almost eliminated by unknown disease in Canary Islands

"Since 2021, Diadema africanum #urchins in the Canary Island archipelago have almost entirely been killed by an unknown disease. There has been a 99.7% population decrease in Tenerife, and a 90% decrease off the islands of the Madeira archipelago."

Pandemic beneath the surface has been quietly wiping out sea #urchins around the world. Canary Islands is the missing link as urchins die off in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the #Sea of Oman and the western Indian Ocean. via
@eurekalert.bsky.social

N.L. sea urchin fishery in jeopardy, says owner of one of the province's only plants | CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador's sea urchin fishery is on the verge of collapse, as the fish harvesters and divers are confined to certain overfished areas, says Jerry and Alisha Hodder, owners of one of t...

Sea #urchins are harvested when commercial divers team up with license holders to collect urchins from the ocean’s floor. They are taken for their roe — or uni — and sold worldwide. In Canada it's an industry worth about $6 million. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Original post on gluck.cc

[Hammering urchins among new strategies to help Oregon's kelp forests bounce back]

“
After a decade of urchins devastating kelp forests, researchers are finally fighting back — and bringing the literal hammer down.
…
All totaled, divers destroyed more than 260,000 urchins.

The results shocked […]

A wild Brianfish

Beautiful shallow seaweed garden bathed in sunlight

Colorful seaweed bed just under the calm surface

A northern red anemone that has resided in this tiny cave at Folly Cove for decades

Too many shots for one post!

#underwaterphotography #scuba #anemones #urchins #seaweed #NewEngland #Massachusetts 📷 🦑

Green urchins on a granite wall - the visibility was incredible

A large clutch of squid eggs with a lobster living underneath

The mighty American lobster

I took the wide angle lens on two dives at Folly Cove in late July. We enjoyed incredible visibility and bright sunshine, which made for some nice photos that are different from my normal macro shots.

#underwaterphotography #scuba #crabs #lobsters #urchins #seaweed #NewEngland #Massachusetts 📷 🦑

‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise Pollution, warm oceans and hungry urchins devastated Pacific kelp. Now, thanks to divers with hammers, one of the world’s most successful rehabilitation projects has helped it rebound

Urchins can eat a lot of lettuce! Marine ecosystems can be thrown out of balance when there are too many (or too little) of them #urchins #kelp #scubascience #ocean #oceanscience #marinebiology

How does the #kelp respond when you remove the excessive numbers of #urchins?

“Within three months, the kelp came back,” he says. “I’ve never seen a kelp forest that dense – and it was insane to see how quickly it returned.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Today's art projects, the first featuring hand- picked rocks from Lake Superior
#monstera #pufferfish #urchins #airplant #sanddollar #shiba #lakesuperior

When one of your Urchins eats a giant bald spot off your other, so you give him a cookie to suck on. #hangry #urchins #divawhenhungry #eatasnickers

These cuties just nailed a funny, heartbreaking and dramatic @rpgeeksdnd.bsky.social finale ♥️ 🐦

Great stuff with @akingmade.bsky.social, @emzywb.bsky.social, @zackfg.bsky.social and put together/led by @shamini.bsky.social (who did some gorgeous artwork) #ttrpg #rpg #kidsonbikes #urchins

Ocean Acidification: Saturation State Dataset from NOAA

Samples of dried corals: Pink and orange Bubblegum coral, White Brain coral and other various white corals.

As atmospheric CO2 is absorbed by our #Oceans the acidity level increases. Sea creatures like #Corals, #SeaSstars, #Urchins, #Oysters, #Clams and #Lobsters to name a few, can't form their skeletal structure or shells because changing PH levels reduce the carbonate in seawater.

An explosion of sea urchins threatens to push coral reefs in Hawaii ‘past the point of recovery’ (CNN) — The turquoise water of Hōnaunau Bay in Hawaii, an area popular with snorkelers and divers, is teeming with spiny creatures that threaten to push the coral reef “past

CORAL REEF NEWS: An explosion of sea urchins threatens to push coral reefs in Hawaii ‘past the point of recovery’

www.wkow.com/an-explosion...

#coralreefs #urchins #seaurchin #coralreefecology #hawaii #coral #marineecology #habitathealth #coralreefresearch #marinebiology

Slab of fossil sea urchins, 17 in. wide, Lower Cretaceous, Cooke Cty., Texas. All are Holasters except for those broken which are Halfasters. 🤪 #Urchins #Cretaceous #paleontology #Holaster

A Putative ‘Pre-Nervous’ Endocannabinoid System in Early Echinoderm Development Embryos and larvae of sea urchins (Lytechinus variegatus, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Dendraster excentricus), and starfish (Pisaster ochraceus) were investigated...

#Ancient #Sea #Urchins
Pre #NervousSystem #EndoCannabinoid #System

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Hungry #kelp munching #urchins in Iceland 🇮🇸

crab and urchin (marine grazers) on a coral reef

A valuable and timely synthesis of Caribbean reef grazer production methods, clearly laying out the progress so far and the critical gaps still to address for use in reef restoration. Go check it out!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/RJB8BV...

#reefs #coral #crabs #urchins #restoration #marinebio

Sunderland comedian Bobby Thompson getting down with the kids on his 1979 single – When I Was A Lad. #guttersnipes #urchins

🦑 Oh no! It is the last of my #Bohol #Philippines photos. Enjoy a #Squid and #Urchins hanging with a bunch of blue eyed fish. I know you are all waiting impatiently to find out which album I pull out next. :P

🦦 We're looking forward to our upcoming Webinar: Kelp Communities in Transition & Oregon’s Important Marine Species of Greatest Conservation Need on Wednesday 3/12 at 6:30pm PST!

👋 For Zoom Link: www.elakhaalliance.org/event/webina...

#oregon #oregoncoast #kelpforest #kelp #seaotters #urchins

Kelp Restoration Project to Pluck Purple Urchins from Santa Barbara Channel The new pilot project will sell the problematic purples to restaurants or turn them into agricultural products.

This new pilot project will remove kelp-eating purple #urchins from one acre of the #SantaBarbara Channel, giving the region’s historic #kelp forest a fighting chance at growing back.

www.independent.com/2025/01/30/k...

UF/IFAS, The Florida Aquarium collaborate to revitalize coral reefs, marine habitats Coral reefs serve as habitats for fish, increase tourism activities and reduce wave energy – among their many benefits. That’s why scientists with the University of Florida and The Florida Aquarium’s ...

#Coral

U. of Florida and the FL Aquarium are spawning #urchins in captivity & raising their larvae to release onto #Florida reefs. Covering algae blankets #coralreefs and slows their growth by preventing them from getting enough sunlight. The urchins eat this covering algae

Shelling on Near Year's Day in 2023!! It was a nice way to start the year; lots of different kinds of shells to find: youtu.be/Dt0NjB2tGWk

#mancinella #drupe #semicassis #shells #shelling #seashell #scallop #cowries #urchins #pebbleurchin #fibularia #lacecoral #textilecone #beachcombing #funhobby