Birch Aquarium Spawns Critically Endangered Sunflower Sea Stars

SAN DIEGO, CA — Birch Aquarium successfully spawned three critically endangered sunflower sea stars, aquarium officials announced Wednesday.

"Sunflower stars are considered functionally extinct in our own state of California," said Melissa Torres, assistant dive safety officer and aquarist at Birch Aquarium. "Our collective goal is to save them from extinction."

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego accomplished the milestone achievement in the recovery of the species in partnership with the Aquarium of the Pacific, Steinhart Aquarium at California Academy of Sciences, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and the Sunflower Star Laboratory. This is the second time Birch Aquarium has induced spawning on a sunflower star.

The aquarium is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Saving Animals From Extinction Sunflower Sea Star program, in which several zoos, aquariums and professionals from many backgrounds help reestablish populations of sunflower stars on the West Coast.

"It's incredible to see the huge collaboration that has taken place over the past two years to bring awareness to the plight of the sunflower sea star," said Jenifer Burney, Aquarium of the Pacific senior aquarist and co-chair of the AZA SAFE Sunflower Sea Star Program. "There is a massive team of scientists and educators working to try to save this species in the wild, and seeing how far we've come in such a short time gives me a lot of hope for the future."

For nearly a decade, a mysterious sea star wasting disease has swept across the West Coast, causing a mass die-off of sea stars particularly in warming waters, according to Birch Aquarium. It hit sunflower sea stars the hardest, nearly driving them to extinction.

The pizza-sized stars play an "essential role" in the overall health of kelp forests, safeguarding kelp forests from the adverse effects of overgrazing by sea urchins.

In the wild, sea stars broadcast spawn, meaning the males and females freely release sperm and eggs into the ocean, where they mix and hopefully fertilize, according to Birch Aquarium. This strategy relies more on chance encounters for fertilization, rather than direct mating.

"Birch Aquarium can help this recovery effort by providing genetic diversity, exemplary animal care techniques and groundbreaking new protocols," Torres said.

Birch Aquarium is home to five sunflower stars — four males and one female — one of the largest aquarium populations in California.

Moving forward, Birch Aquarium will continue to coordinate with its SAFE Sunflower Star program partners for future spawning efforts. The goal is to spawn the males to cross-fertilize with the females to increase the genetic diversity of sunflower star populations.

"We are hopeful that within the next five to 10 years our coalition can work with California Fish and Wildlife to release animals raised in our facilities into the wild and re-establish local populations of sunflower stars, a critical component of restoring ecosystem equilibrium for kelp forests," said Riah Evin, senior biologist at Steinhart Aquarium at California Academy of Sciences.