For the Catalina Island Conservancy’s Last Friday Lectures series, Sunflower Star Laboratory’s Ashley Kidd will be giving a talk on Sunflower Sea Stars in the Channel Island.

It was the epidemic no one ever saw. By 2018, ninety-five percent of sunflower sea stars disappeared off the coast of North America in a staggeringly short 5 years.  After a decade of living in California, the hypnotic kelp forests have compelled Ashley to work towards restoring these ecosystems, and is thrilled to share the story of a sea star that once roamed the nearshore waters off Catalina Island. The last time a sunflower star was observed in Southern California was 2014, and only a handful of  stars have been observed since 2018 in northern California. Ashley looks forward to introducing you to the intrepid community of partners that are working towards a sustainable way to manage the return of sunflower sea stars to restore kelp ecosystems, and the mesmerizing life history of a sea star we didn’t know we didn’t know.

Please register here.