Scientists deploy a 24-armed secret weapon to save California’s kelp forests

SO THEY HAVE FINALLY ADMITTED IT, WE LOST NINETY FIVE PERCENT OF THE KELP FORESTS ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST IN JUST TEN YEARS WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY WILD! SO NOW THESE SCIENTISTS AT THE SUNFLOWER STAR LABORATORY ARE LITERALLY THROWING TWENTY FOUR ARMED SUNFLOWER SEA STARS BACK INTO THE WATER OFF MONTEREY TO FIX IT! THEY ARE DIVING INTO THE CHOPPY PACIFIC AND CARRYING THESE ALIEN LOOKING PREDATORS IN PLASTIC BAGS, PUTTING THEM IN CAGES WITH THE DOORS OPEN LIKE SOME KIND OF UNDERWATER HOTEL, JUST HOPING THEY GO FOR A WALK AND EAT THINGS TO SAVE THE ECOSYSTEM! APPARENTLY THEY LOOK LIKE SCIENCE FICTION MONSTERS BUT WE NEED THEM TO BE THE HEROES. I GUESS WE ARE JUST RELYING ON STARFISH TO SAVE THE WORLD NOW? OK LAST ONE AND THEN WE DANCE.

YOU KNOW THAT THING EVERYONE PREDICTED ABOUT THE OCEAN DYING? WELL, THE SUNFLOWER SEA STAR IS APPARENTLY THE KEY TO FIXING IT. THEY HAVE BEEN DECIMATED, ALMOST GONE, BUT ASHLEY KIDD AND THIS NON-PROFIT ARE REINTRODUCING THEM OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST BECAUSE THE KELP FORESTS ARE IN TROUBLE. THEY ARE LITERALLY DIVING INTO THE COLD WATER AND RELEASING THESE WILD TWENTY FOUR ARMED CREATURES FROM CAGES. THE ARTICLE SAYS THEY WANT THESE PREDATORS TO GO BACK TO ROAMING THE SEABED LIKE THEY USED TO BEFORE EVERYTHING FELL APART. IT IS A STRANGE MISSION TO REPOPULATE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES THAT LOOKS LIKE A SPACE ALIEN JUST TO SEE IF THE SEAWEED CAN SURVIVE THE NEXT DECADE. IT IS A VERY SPECIFIC SCIENCE PROJECT. ANYWAY I AM GOING TO GO THINK ABOUT MY LIFE.

Researchers are working to restore critically endangered sunflower sea stars to California's kelp forests, which have lost 95% of their ecosystem over the last decade.

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