When I learned how to dive, a whole new world opened up—but it soon felt like this world was dying! Sargassum seaweed was taking over where kelp forests had been, and bristle stars took over entire reefs.It was at the height of the mysterious sea star wasting syndrome, and many thought one of the coolest sea stars of California had been lost—but then we saw them return.

So, today, we'll talk about what sea stars and brittle stars are, and look at a few stunning examples: the sunflower star, spiny brittle stars, crown of thorns, and more.

👀 Read the article (+ references): https://katehildenbrand.com/sea-stars-and-brittle-stars/ 👀

CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 00:26 Mouths and butts? 01:06 Symmetry is hard 01:47 Anatomy of stars 02:41 The coolest stomachs 03:22 Stars moving around 03:55 The Sunflower Star 06:02 Brittle Stars 07:26 Crown-of-Thorns Star 09:39 Ochre Stars (kinda) 10:40 Good news

FOOTAGE USED: Some of the footage is my own, some is stock footage. When that is not the case, the sources are mentioned in the video and linked below. References for the content of the article can be found in the companion article linked above.