My Science School

Butterfly basics

• Butterflies, along with moths, make up the insect order Lepidoptera. There are about 18,500 known species, found in every continent except Antarctica, and they come in a wide variety of colours and sizes.


• Butterflies have four wings. Each wing is covered by thousands of scales and hairs. They have six legs, three main body parts (head, thorax and abdomen), two club-tipped antennae and an exoskeleton.


• They taste with their feet and have a long suction tube called proboscis for a mouth. When not in use, the proboscis stays coiled up like a hose. Their eyes are made of 6,000 lenses and can see ultraviolet light.


• They are active during the day.


• Most adult butterflies sip liquids such as nectar, sap, juices from fruits, and sometimes even fluids from carcasses.


• Butterflies are essentially cold-blooded, and many species warm up by sitting in a warm spot or basking in the sun.


• The normal lifespan of a butterfly varies with every species. But on an average, the larger species can live from four to eight weeks, while smaller species live from a fortnight to three weeks. But a species of the migrating monarch is said to live up to 10 months.


• There are roughly 1,300 species of butterflies in India.


• Elsewhere, monarch butterflies are famous for their yearly migration, travelling up to 2,000 miles in two months to get from Canada and the northern U.S. to Mexico for the winter.

Four stages of life

The insect goes through three stages of life before emerging as the colourful butterfly we see in our garden. The transformation is quite fascinating given the fact they begin life in a completely different form.

First stage: A female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture. Some hatch within a few weeks, while others do so once the weather is warm enough.

Second stage: The caterpillar that hatches from the egg has a great appetite and it starts chomping on the leaves of the host plant immediately after hatching. Indeed, it is a very hungry caterpillar!

Third stage: Once fully grown, the caterpillar transforms into a “pupa” (or chrysalis) on twigs or on hidden areas around the host plant. The hardened case of pupa protects it from predators and extreme weather conditions.

Final stage: Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. Once fit for flight, the insect spreads its wing and flies in search of flowers to treat itself to a drink of nectar. And the cycle continues.

Vote for your favourite butterfly

• Over 30 organisations in India, working in the field of biodiversity conservation, have come together to celebrate the Big Butterfly Month by hosting a number of events related to butterflies.


• The events include online workshops, photography and videography contests, origami classes and quiz.


• The ‘Big Butterfly Count’, a nation-wide citizen science survey, is being held till September 20.


• Apart from these, a group of 50 butterfly enthusiasts, researchers, writers, and experts from across the country have led an initiative to select the ‘national butterfly’ of India. Out of 50 species, seven butterflies have been shortlisted for the finals. Citizens can vote for their favourite at (shorturl.at/dtGU7). The poll concludes on October 8.

Mimicry in butterflies

Mimicry in butterflies coms in two types: Batesian and Mullerian mimicry.

Batesian is a form of mimicry were a harmless species imitates the warning signals of a posionous or unpalatable species. Females of common African mocker swallotail are best at this game. They mimic the wings of up to five different, more posionous butterfly species.

Mullerian mimicry is employed by noxious species that mimic each other. Monrach and viceroy butterflies are classic examples of Mullerian mimicry. The pattern on the wings of monrach butterflies is similar to the one on viceroy butterflies. So, these two unrelated  species mimic each other’s warning colouration to fool their respective predators.

Hidden in plain sight

Colours give butterflies camouflage, helping them avoid hungry predators. Moreover, butterflies can see more of the visible light spectrum than humans can. This colour sensitivity not only helps them find flowers but also perfect camouflage backgrounds.

Some butterflies closely resemble leaves or twigs. For instance, the Indian leafwing butterfly is nearly impossible to spot when it is nestled among leaves. The upper side of its wings is blue with an orange band, while the underside is a dull brown. Showcasing its ded leaf-like appearance (complete with veins et all), the butterfly lies motionless to escape predators.

Ecologica role

• Butterflies are important pollinators. As butterflies move from one flower to another sipping nectar, they help move pollen from one plant to another.


• Butterflies in the larval, or caterpillar, stage consume the leaves (even flowers or seed pods) of host plants, thereby help keep certain plant species from multiplying out of control. Some butterflies consume rotting fruit and animal excrement, thus ridding the environment of waste.


• Caterpillars and butterflies are also food source for birds, spiders, lizards, small mammals and even other insects.


• Because butterflies and caterpillars are sensitive to subtle changes in environment scientists view their presence or absence as an indicator of whether an ecosystem is healthy or not.

Mud puddling

Have you noticed congregations of butterflies on the mud and wondered if they were aeting soil? Not soil, but the nutrients in it. Though the insects get their nutrition from nectra, they also seek minerals and sodium from the soil. By sipping moisture from mud puddles, they take in the required nutrients. This behaviour is called mud puddling, and is seen mostly in male butterflies. These absorbed nutrients help in producing pheromone, a chemical released by the male to attract female. When butterflies mate, the nutrients are also transferred to the female. These extra salts and minerals improve the viability of the female’s eggs. Mud puddling behaviour is common among moths and leafhoppers too.

 

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The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. While healthcare workers, governments and people continue to fight the coronavirus, a new environmental problem has emerged and has been crying for attention – pandemic-related pollution, especially those concerning medical and plastic waste. The increased use of masks, gloves and PPE (Personal protective equipment) during the pandemic has resulted in them making their way into oceans and landfills. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), around 75% of the used masks and other waste will end up in landfills, or seas. One study estimates that in the U.K. alone, if every person used a single-use face mask a day for a year, it would create an additional 66,000 tonnes of contaminated waste.

Plastic everywhere

The PPE includes respirators, masks, face shields, goggles, gowns, coveralls, and more. These are made of plastic and are mostly used only once before disposal. Such items take up to 500 years to degrade in the ocean. Similarly, gloves, commonly made from cheap and durable plastic such as polyvinyl chloride, take longer to degrade.

Cause for concern

The UNEP has warned the governments about the potential consequences of such waste. Open dumping of used masks, PPE and gloves, and their burning can not only lead to the release of toxins in the environment, but also to secondary transmission of diseases.

Environmentalists are urging governments to treat the medical and hazardous waste effectively. They insist on educating the public on the safe disposal of waste.

Innovation is key

Meanwhile, many plastic-free or reusable alternatives are being suggested worldwide to tackle the issue. A decontamination system that could instantly treat large quantities of PPE, masks and respirators, use of UV light to decontaminate used items and biodegradable gloves and face visors are being mooted.

 

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Chocolate aficionados will perhaps say chocolate is the most endearing invention by humans. We eat it when we are happy and when we are sad; when we celebrate something and when we want to cheer ourselves up. Basically, we don’t need a reason to bite into this delight.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it is the most popular sweet treats in the world. The global consumption is estimated to be at least 7.2 million metric tonnes every year.

But here comes the bitter truth – chocolates will soon become rare and expensive.

Chocolate production is threatened by climate change. Cacao trees, from which chocolates are produced, require certain conditions to grow, but with the changing climate, these conditions are no longer available.

How are chocolates produced?

Chocolate comes from fruits called pods that grow on cacao trees. Its seeds, cacao beans, are the main ingredient in chocolate. They are used to make chocolate paste, cocoa powder, cocoa butter and so on. These cacao trees grow only in the warm, humid regions near the Equator, largely in areas designated as rainforests. These places include parts of South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Cacao seeds are harvested by hand and placed in large fermentation trays. Fermentation, which takes two to seven days, gives the beans the chocolate flavour and aroma. The beans are then dried under the sun and are taken to chocolate factories, where they are cleaned and roasted in rotating ovens. This process removes the seeds’ coating, giving us the remaining part – the nib. The nib is then made into a paste called chocolate liquor, which is then used with other ingredients such as cacao butter, milk and sugar to make chocolates.

The story of chocolates

• Chocolate’s history goes back to 450 BC, when the Aztecs and the Mayans (ancient people of central Mexico) used cacao beans to concoct a drink called xocoatl. It was quite bitter and frothy, and was often mixed with chilli. The Mayans and the Aztecs believed that chocolate was a gift from the gods. (So, do we!)


• This chocolate drink was brought to Europe during the 16th Century when the Spanish started colonising South America.


• A powdered form of chocolate was prepared after ‘cocoa press’ was invented in 1828. Then people started adding milk mass-produced. The hitherto drink of the elite became available for others.


• British chocolate J.S. Fry and Sons introduced the chocolate bar in 1847. In the late 1800s, Milton S. Hershey began selling chocolate-coated caramels in the U.S. He then developed his own formula for milk chocolate. In 1923, the Mars Co. developed the Milky Way bar by putting nougat (made with sugar, honey and nuts) inside a chocolate bar.


• As the years progressed, chocolate lent itself to innovation. It took different forms, depending on the ingredients, the percentage of cocoa, source of the beans and production method.

Types of chocolate

Dark, milk and white are the three main varieties of chocolates. While dark chocolate has chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and vanilla, milk chocolate has milk additives. White chocolate is milk chocolate without the chocolate liquor. (Since there is no cacao involved in the production of white chocolate, some argue that it is not chocolate at all.) Dark chocolates are believed to have a number of health benefits. They are good for heart and brain. And are often associated with positive effects on mood. But too much chocolate can be unhealthy because it contains high levels of sugar and fat which can make people put on weight. It can also cause tooth cavity among other issues.

Impending chocapocalypse

• Cacao trees require steady temperatures, high humidity, lots of rain, nitrogen-rich soil, and protection from wind to thrive. Regions where cacao grows best often have high humidity levels – 100% during the day and 70-80% at night.


• But with climate change, these conditions are changing. For cacao plants, the change in humidity is a major issue. As the globe heats up, the stages of the water cycle become erratic – floods and droughts become more prevalent and extreme. In tropical environments, rising temperatures lead to increased evaporation rates and decreased humidity, causing cacao crops to suffer.


• Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana (both in Africa), and Indonesia are the leading cacao-producing countries. But researchers show that these countries will experience a 2.1 degree Celsius increase in temperature by 2050. This will in turn affect rainfall and humidity. As a result, viable land for cacao production will significantly shrink.


• This has prompted experts to predict that chocolate productions will take a big hit. While chocolate will not go away completely off the shelves, it will become rare and expensive. The market may shift from cheaper, more accessible chocolates to more luxurious ones. That is, in the coming years, we may have to shell out more for chocolates.

Did you know?

• Chocolate production can also harm the environment. Farmers often clear forests to make room for cacao plantations. About 70% of illegal deforestation in Cote d’Ivoire is related to cacao farming.


• Cacao plants consume a lot of water. According to National Geographic, it takes 1,700 litres of water to make a 100-gm chocolate bar. That’s about 10 bathtubs of water for one bar of chocolate.

 

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Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of minute solid and liquid particles suspended in air, which contributes to pollution. PM consists of a variety of components such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, metal, and liquid droplets. These particles are everywhere – indoors and outdoors – in your home, school, on the road and in parks.

Categorisation

Particulate matter varies greatly in composition and size, ranging from a few nanometres to a few micrometres. These can only the detected using an electron microscope. However, some particles are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. The small particles are categorised as:

1. PM10 – those with a diameter of 10 micrometres or less.


2. PM2.5 – those with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less.

The diameter of a single strand of human hair would be 30 times larger than a PM2.5 particle.

Sources

Particulate matter originates from a range of human activities. They include industrial facilities, power plants, vehicles. Incinerators, dust and fires. Some come directly from a source such as construction sites, while others form in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions between chemical pollutants emitted by power plants, industries and automobiles. The particles can travel in any direction that the wind takes them.

Harmful effects

Their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs, blood stream and the brain makes them the most harmful form of air pollution. These can lead to health problems, including heart attacks, respiratory disease, and premature death. The World Health Organisation has designated airborne particulates as carcinogens (cancer-causing).

Airborne particles can also contribute to global warming, climate change and acid rains. They can change or deplete nutrients in soil and contaminate waterways. They can damage cultural icons such as monuments and statues.

 

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A heatwave is a period of prolonged abnormally high surface temperatures relative to those normally expected. Classifying a heatwave varies from country to country. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) defines heatwaves as fire or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature surpasses the average maximum temperature by 5  or more.

• California’s climate: Wildfires are a natural part of its landscape. California has two distinct fire seasons – one that runs from June through September and another from October through April. While the first one is driven by a combination of warmer and drier weather, the second one is driven by dry winds such as the Santa Ana and Diablo, which make wildfires spread rapidly and cover large areas.


• Longer fire season: In the recent past, the fire season in California has been starting earlier and ending later. The length of the season is estimated to have increased by 75 days.


• Beetle infestation: Prolonged drought conditions leave behind a landscape of dead trees, which lead to infestation by bark-eating pets such as the mountain pine beetle. Outbreaks of pests weaken and kill trees. Beetle-killed trees are at a higher risk of fire.


• Warmer weather: Heatwave is a major contributor to forest fires in California. Did you know the Death Valley recorded  sweltering 130 degrees Fahrenheit last month? It was the hottest temperature recorded in the world since 1913.

What is the link between climate change and forest fires?

• Climate change has created conditions conductive to forest fires. Long summer, drought, and dry air and vegetation make forests more susceptible to severe wildfire.


• Climate change has led to frequent heatwaves across the globe. Hotter temperatures, again, mean parched land.


• Climate change has also lengthened the fire season in many parts of the world.

 

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Californian forests are up in flames again. Over 600 wildfires have burned down more than 1.25 million acres in Northern and Central California since August 15. The massive fires were set off by a lightning siege of over 12,000 strikes. High temperatures and strong winds have made the situation even worse. Wildfires have also been raging in Argentina’s Cordoba province and Parana Delta since July. Fueled by strong, dry winds and severe drought, the fires have destroyed at least 35,400 acres of forest in the Parana Delta, an important wetland ecosystem. What are the factors that fuel fire in a forest? Does climate have a role to play?

What is a wildfire?

An uncontrolled fire is an area of combustible vegetation which spreads quickly, wiping out large areas of land is called a wildfire. A wildfire can also be termed a forest fire, a grass fire, a peat fire or a bush fire depending on the type of vegetation present in the area.

What causes wildfires?

Wildfires are common in Australia, Southeast Asia, southern Africa, Western Cape of South Africa, the forested areas of the United States and Canada, and the Mediterranean Basin.

During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests became littered with dry leaves and twigs, which could be ignited by the slightest spark.

Natural causes: Lightning is the most common cause of wildfire. There are three conditions for a forest fire to spread – fuel, oxygen and a heat source. In the forest, anything that is flammable is a fuel. This includes tall, dry grass, bushes and trees. High temperature, drought and dry vegetation are a perfect combination for igniting a forest fire.

Man-made disaster: Human neglect such as downed powerliness, sparks from tools or forest machinery, abandoned campfires and discarded cigarette butts can spark fires. People also tend to clear forests by setting them on fire to pave way for cultivation. Sometimes they set fire to scare away wild animals.

How is forest fire put out?

Traditional extinguishing methods include water dousing and spraying of fire retardants from aircraft. To limit the spread of a fire, firefighters remove ground litter and bush.

 

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Fireflies are winged beetles with light-producing organs called photic organs located in the lower part of their abdomen Bioluminescence in fireflies serves several purposes – to attract mates, to lure prey and in larvae, the light serves as a warning to predators not to eat them because they contain distasteful toxic chemicals. Firefly light is usually to each species. Some fireflies are capable of synchronising their light emission in a phenomenon known as simultaneous bioluminescence.

This phenomenon has been observed only in a few places such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, the U.S, and in the mangrove forests of Southeast Asia.

Fireflies appear to light up for a variety of reasons. The larvae produce short glows and are primarily active at night, even though many species are subterranean or semi-aquatic. Fireflies produce defensive steroids in their bodies that make them unpalatable to predators. Larvae use their glows as warning displays to communicate their distastefulness. As adults, many fireflies have flash patterns unique to their species and use them to identify other members of their species as well as to discriminate between members of the opposite sex. Several studies have shown that female fireflies choose mates depending upon specific male flash pattern characteristics. Higher male flash rates, as well as increased flash intensity, have been shown to be more attractive to females in two different firefly species.

 

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Comb Jellies are fascinating creatures that have special features- rows of ‘comb’ with hair-like structures called cilia, evenly spaced around their bodies. The organism uses these cilia like oars to swim in the water. Comb jellies are known for generating dramatic rainbows of colours along the comb-rows while swimming. But that’s not bioluminescence- it occurs when light is scattered in different directions by the movement of cilia. But comb jellies also secrete luminescent ink that serves to distract predators providing time for them to escape.

Until 2015 scientists believed that comb jellies removed their waste via their "mouth," or what was believed to be the one hole in their body plan. A new study showed that comb jellies in fact release indigestible particles through pores on the rear end of the animal. This discovery adds another piece to the evolutionary puzzle of when animals evolved to have anuses.

Many comb jellies have a single pair of tentacles (often each tentacle is branched, giving the illusion of many tentacles) that they use like fishing lines to catch prey. They are armed with sticky cells (colloblasts) and unlike jellyfish, the tentacles of comb jellies don’t sting.

 

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More than 70 species of mushrooms are bioluminescent. Some of them light up only at night. As the temperature drops when the sun sets, the fungi begin to glow. Scientists believe fungi such as mushrooms, glow in order to attract insects. Insects are drawn to the mushrooms, which crawl around them. They pick up the spores of the fungi and help spread them. Fungal spores are microscopic biological particles that allow fungi to reproduce- what seeds are for plants, spores are for fungi. The light of fungi ranges from blue to green and yellow, depending on the species.

Scientists went foraging for the glow-in-the-dark mushrooms in Brazil and Vietnam. Back in the lab, reports Becker, they crushed the mushrooms to make a slurry filled with luciferins. Then they isolated the luciferin and studied it, capturing its chemical structure and experimenting with its ability to fuel those flourescent colors.

Not only does the team now know that the mushrooms are fueled by their own kind of luciferin, but they also figured out that the enzyme that combines with the chemical to trigger light could be what they call “promiscuous.”

That means that the enzyme might be able to interact with different luciferins—and produce even more shades of that pretty glow. And that suggests that when it comes to these magical mushrooms, there’s even more to discover.

 

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Sunlight does not penetrate 200 ft below the ocean’s surface, so the deep sea is essentially a cold, dark place. But if you dive underwater and go deep down, you may witness a blue-green glow here or a ghostly flicker there. And if you are lucky or a ghostly flicker there. And if you are lucky enough, you may witness lightshows of red, green, and blue. Where are these lights coming from? From marine organisms. This phenomenon of emitting light due to a chemical reaction within a living organism is called bioluminescence.

Shining stars

Though marine bioluminescent organisms live throughout the water column, from the surface to the seafloor and from near the coast to the open ocean, they are extremely common in the deep sea. As many as 90% of all the organisms in the deep sea are bioluminescent. Its the norm there, say scientists. Some of the bioluminescent marine organisms include fish, jellyfish, bacteria, algae, marine worms, crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, krill etc.), sharks and cephalopad (octopus, squid, cuttelfish). In fish alone, there are about 1,500 known species that emit light.

Thought rare, bioluminescence be witnessed among a few terrestrial organisms as well. They include firefiles, land snails, glow worms and some types of fungi. Some forms of bioluminescnence are brighter or exist only at night.

Chemical reaction

How is the light produced? The light is produced by a chemical reaction involving light-emitting molecule luciferin and light-emitting enzyme luciderase found in the organisms. When luciferase interacts with luciferin in the presence of oxygen, light is produced.

But not all bioluminescent reaction involve luciferase. Some involve a chemical called photoprotein instead of luciferase.

Some creatures produce their own light while others such as squid foster a symbiotic relationship with certain bacteria that live on the organism and emit light to help the host. (The host organisms provide these bacteria a safe home and sufficient nutrition. In exchange, the hosts use light produced by the bacteria for camouflage, prey or mate attraction.)

Colour choice

Most marine organisms emit light in the blue-green part of the visible light spectrum. These colours are more easily visible in the deep ocean. Land organisms also exhibit blue-green bioluminescence, but there are those that glow yellow such as fireflies.

A few organisms can glow in more than one colour. The head of the railroad worm(a larvae of a beetle species) glows red while its body glows green. The bioluminescent colour is a result of the arrangement of luciferin molecules and the type of the luciferase enzyme.

What the purpose?

Bioluminescent organisms often light up in response to an attack or a disturbance such as touch, waves or the passing of a boat (e.g: dinoflagellate); some use it to hunt prey (anglerfish has a fleshy growth on its head, which, when lit up, looks like a fatty, juicy worm. The fish uses it to attract prey); to find mate (the female of Bolitaena pygmaea), a deep-sea octopus species, lights up around the mouth to attract mate) and to communicate (scientists think the lanternshark uses bioluminescence to communicate to other members of its species). Some use bioluminescence as a defence tactic to surprise or confuse a predator (many types of jellyfish and squids) or to camouflage (hatchet fish and many shark species produce light to match their background).

 

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California has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. On the one side, this U.S. State has been fighting a series of wildfires that have destroyed acres of forests and displaced thousands of people. On the other, it’s facing threat from the explosion of a marine species called the purple sea urchin. These urchins have chomped off 90% of the bull kelps along the coastline of California and neighbouring State Oregon, putting the entire coastal ecosystem out of whack.

Kelps are a type of a large brown seaweed that grow in shallow, nutrient-rich saltwater, near coastal fronts around the world. They offer shelter to a host of sea creatures. The coastal water of northern California was once home to a dense coverage of kelps. But today, they have been replaced by purple sea urchins. The vast stretch of the seafloor is barren and is dotted with nothing but tens of millions of these spiny orbs.

Sea urchins are typically spiny, round creatures, inhabiting all oceans. They belong to the phylum Echinodermata – the same group or sea stars, sand dollars, sea lilies and sea cucumbers.

The purple sea urchin – Steongylocentrtus purpuratus – is voracious, kelp-eating species. They are particularly fond of bull kelps. They are native to California’s coast, and have traditionally been found in smaller numbers. But now, from California, the population of the sea urchins has spread to Oregon reef, where their count has been found to be 350 million – more than a 10,000 % increase since 2014. These millions and millions of sea urchins are eating away not just kelps but also anemones, the sponges, flesh red algae and even sand, say scientists.

Cascade of events

Sea water wasting

The trouble began in 2013, when a mysterious disease began to spread among starfish. Scientists are not sure what caused the diseases in sea stars. It wiped out tens of millions of the species. This included sunflower sea water, which is the only real predator of the purple urchin. With no predators to keep the population in check, the hitherto harmless purple sea urchins began to grow and multiply, eating everything in sight. Destruction of kelps, their primary source of food, left other creatures depended on it to starve and die. Meanwhile, purple sea urchins’ population grew 60-fold between 2014 and 2015.

Double whammy for kelps

The kelps had already been struggling because of warmer-than-usual waters in the Pacific Ocean. Warm waters are nutrient poor, and as a result, the kelp cannot grow high enough to reach the surface of the water for photosynthesis. The 2014 record-breaking heatwave and subsequent El Nino condition in 2015 fuelled their decline further.

Ecosystem collapses

As the kelps population declined, 96% of red abalone, a type of sea snail that feeds on kelp, died from starvation, by 2017. According to a study, red sea urchins, a meatier relative of purple urchins, are also declining due t lack of food kelps.

Fisheries affected

The devastation is also economic. Until recently, red abalone and red sea urchins supported a thriving commercial fishery in both California and Oregon. But the mass moralities of red abalone led to its closure in 2018. The commercial harvest of red sea urchins in California and Oregon also has taken an enormous hit.

Can kelps rebound?

• Bull kelp is one of the fastest-growing algae on Earth and if the cooler water temperatures return, the seaweed may be able to bounce back. But the excessive numbers of purple sea urchins will still pose a problem.


• The only way to restore the kelp is to remove the purple sea urchins. But to remove the ones in Oregon alone, it would take 15 to 20 years, by scientists. Without the kelps, purple sea urchins by themselves may decline. But again it could be a long wait.


• Conservationists suggest urchin farming as a solution to the problem. It involves physically removing large numbers of purple sea urchins from the seafloor to be flattened up in controlled environments for human consumption.


• However, even if the kelps rebound, it may take decades for the entire ecosystem to bounce back to its past glory.

 

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