Researchers warn this transition isn’t unique to the state. Expert sounds alarm as harmful species spread in US waterways: ...

While the marine heatwaves killing the kelp ecosystem were alarming on their own, the researchers have discovered a new ...

With their pointy spines, sea urchins are not warm and fuzzy marine animals that people want to snuggle up to. While they are ...

The sea otter pup was tiny, probably less than 2 weeks old, alone in Morro Bay on an October morning earlier this year. A ...

These breeding grounds for fish are under siege from red turf algae, sea urchins, storm surges, warming waters and climate ...

Rock lobsters (better known as kōura and crayfish) are a natural predator of sea urchins, which can overgraze the kelp, leading to barren rocky reefs. A three year closure on rock lobster fishing was ...

A rapid spread of millions of sea urchins is threatening vital kelp forests, which remove pollutants from water.

Nestled in the rocky, shallow areas of bays, tide pools, and kelp forests in Central and Northern California is a species of abalone which has been an important part of local life for centuries. Red ...

Sea urchins are ecosystem engineers, the marine equivalent of mega-herbivores on land. By grazing and shredding seaweed and seagrass, they control algal growth and promote the survival of slow-growing ...

Images of moribund D. africanum off Tenerife Island during the September 2022 mass mortality event: a) Moribund individual of D. africanum showing abnormal position and movement of the spines with ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Rebecca Vega Thurber, University of California, Santa Barbara (THE CONVERSATION) ...