The happy couple, a pair of sunflower sea stars, belonged to a species that has nearly vanished because of climate change.
Sunflower sea stars are a far cry from their smaller pink cousins that you might know from Finding Nemo and SpongeBob SquarePants.
“In a perfect, climate-change-free world, they would be keeping the kelp forest ecology at a perfect eco-balance,” Ms. Torres said.
As a consequence of the heat, a strange wasting condition began spreading among the sunflower sea star population.
Since then, an estimated 90 percent of all sunflower sea stars have perished.
Persons:
Melissa Torres, Nemo, SpongeBob, They’re, Ms, Torres
Organizations:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Locations:
La Jolla, Calif, Pacific Northwest, North, California, Oregon