03/19/2025 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM PT

Join Bay Nature Magazine and Cal Academy marine biologist and expert Riah Evin for a virtual talk about sunflower sea stars on Wednesday, March 19, from 12 - 1pm. Sunflower sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) were an important generalist predator in kelp forest habitats in California prior to being devastated by sea star wasting syndrome in 2013. Loss of this top predator has contributed to overpopulation of purple sea urchins, which has in turn led to overgrazing and loss of giant kelp in California. Now, Cal Academy is rearing and studying sunflower stars spawned in aquaria, with the goal of eventually reintroducing this keystone species back onto our coast. This talk is based on this piece written by former Bay Nature editorial fellow, Guananí Gómez-Van Cortright about the sea stars and the efforts to conserve them.

About the speaker: Mariah (Riah) Evin is a marine biologist with a specialization in kelp forest and California rocky reef habitats. Riah works to educate the public through creating and maintaining recreations of these habitats as well as breeding animals found therein.

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