Before 2013, divers on North America's west coast rarely saw purple sea urchins. The spiky animals, which are voracious kelp eaters, were a favorite food of the coast's iconic sunflower sea stars. The ...

By JES BURNS Oregon Public Broadcasting The year 2025 has been a banner year for scientists in the Pacific Northwest working ...

The sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides) can be found throughout intertidal and subtidal coastal waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean, from Alaska to at least northern Baja California, ...

Finding a cause for sea star wasting disease has been a goal for scientists, in part because the animals are a keystone species. A large community of researchers has been waiting for this news.

In this photo provided by the Hakai Institute, researcher Alyssa Gehman from the Hakai Institute counts and measures sunflower sea stars in the Burke Channel on the Central Coast of British Columbia, ...