Scientists study nearly extinct starfish in laboratories 

The underwater world is still full of unsolved mysteries and exotic creatures. One such is the nearly extinct sunflower starfish. Since 2013, their numbers have been drastically reducing, which is why, marine biologists and conservationists are trying to find out ways to save them.  

With that in mind, a team of researchers based at the University of Washington carried out breeding and studying of the starfish species in the Friday Harbour Lab that is located off the shores of Seattle and can only be reached by boat.  

This latest analysis has revealed that these once plentiful creatures who lived in the Pacific Ocean all the way from Mexico’s Baja region, to the Californian peninsula to far north in Alaska has been declining in number since a decade. Why? Because of a mysterious sea star (another name for starfish) syndrome that have been induced by climate change and rising ocean temperatures.  

Okay, but why exactly did they star disappearing around 2013? Well, according to the lead researcher at the Friday Harbour Marine Lab Jason Hodin, it is because climate change first impacted the oceans around that time, in turn leading to the depletion of starfish population.  

However, what’s interesting here is that this lab situated near the San Juan Island is now home to 109 one-year-old, 23 two-year-old, 12 three-year-old sunflower starfish, while 5000 of them are currently in the larva state ready to be bred. To compare the lifespan and other characteristic features of these starfish in captivity and in wild, scientists have also brought 16 of them from the ocean. But so far, it has been challenging to discern the age of the natural breeders.  

At present, the Friday Harbour Marine Lab runs the world’s only captive breeding programme for the world’s only critically endangered starfish species. It had begun in 2019 and have been in collaboration with two departments of University of Washington, the Department of Marine Biology and the Department of Neuroscience. The role of the latter is to determine if echinoderms are being impacted by the heating ocean waters. The goal of this initiative now is to breed more such starfish and eventually release them into the wild. Another objective is to compare the neurological systems of baby octopi with that of baby starfish and determine how closely they are related. For instance, researchers are using four cameras to focus on the timings and speed of how these creatures move. These are then used to create 3D images of the starfish that helps in detailed study of the changed behaviours under distinct variables.  

So far, the studies with the younger lot have been promising and reveals that the sunflower sea stars may be able to survive in warmer waters, meaning they can combat climate change without any outside help.