"Team works to restore the sunflower sea star as 95% of these key underwater ecosystems have been decimated along the Pacific coast in past decade"
"Off the coast of Monterey, California, a team of researchers is gearing up for its first dive of the day into the cold and choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.
On the back deck of the boat, Ashley Kidd, a co-founder of the non-profit Sunflower Star Laboratory, gave the divers their final command: “Dive No 1 … stars in the water.”
The divers plunge into the water carrying plastic bags containing the true stars of this mission. On the ocean floor, they place the creatures inside specialized cages but keep the doors wide open. The goal is to encourage these alien-like predators to roam the seabed where they were once a crucial part of this underwater ecosystem.
Off the coast of Monterey, California, a team of researchers is gearing up for its first dive of the day into the cold and choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.
On the back deck of the boat, Ashley Kidd, a co-founder of the non-profit Sunflower Star Laboratory, gave the divers their final command: “Dive No 1 … stars in the water.”
The divers plunge into the water carrying plastic bags containing the true stars of this mission. On the ocean floor, they place the creatures inside specialized cages but keep the doors wide open. The goal is to encourage these alien-like predators to roam the seabed where they were once a crucial part of this underwater ecosystem.
“We have a star that decided to go for a walk today,” Kidd said, tracking the progress of one particularly mobile subject.
Kidd’s team is working to restore the sunflower sea star, a critically endangered marine invertebrate that looks less like a traditional starfish and more like something out of science fiction."
