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This is the sunflower sea star, an invertebrate predator with up to 24 arms, span that's one meter across. They can weigh over 10 pounds. A keystone species, as they are top predators of sea urchins. And when urchin populations go unchecked, they're able to graze the kelp forests from the seafloor, just chomping away at the kelp and disconnecting the forest from the bottom, disrupting entire ecosystems. Which is why these giant sea stars that love hanging out near the sea urchins are such an important part of the ecosystem. Prior to 2013, the species was common from Alaska's Aleutian Islands down to Baja California, Mexico. The Colossal Foundation's Species Reintroduction Fund puts $250,000 behind the most critical reintroduction projects on the planet, every year. Over the next few years, sea star wasting disease killed off around 6 billion sunflower sea stars. In the warmer waters from Baja California to Cape Flattery, Washington, the population collapsed by around 99%. The colder northern waters from the Salish Sea to the Gulf of Alaska were a little bit safer for these sea stars, still deadly there, as 88% of the population collapsed. The species is now declared functionally extinct across most of its former habitat. And in some of those regions, has already decreased by 96%. For over a decade, scientists couldn't figure out what was causing this extreme, really gruesome disease. But in 2025, researchers at the Hakai Institute in British Columbia, they had a breakthrough to recreate the lab. Them to identify what was actually causing the disease. A known bacterium called Vibrio Pectenicida, but this was a newly identified strain that was causing the disease. A huge discovery for the future of this species. Once you identify what's actually causing the problem, you can attempt to fix it. But sea star conservation isn't easy. They have been on our planet nearly 500 million years, not the same of course, but the point is, they are very different than the animals we typically study. That means there is a lot to learn for effective conservation. Unfortunately, people typically don't care all about invertebrates and that's why the partnership between the Colossal Foundation's Species Reintroduction Fund and the Snuneymuxw First Nation is my favorite of the seven partnerships that were recently announced. The Indigenous led program is working to restore the sunflower sea star population in their waters, so that they can restore the bull kelp forests that they've lived alongside for millennia, rely on. Their Marine Division and Fisheries Team are leading the field work while the Vancouver Island University is handling the larval rearing. And the two groups are working to best figure how to return these stars to the wild, all while developing a better understanding of the genetic baseline for the species, which can help guide responsible, science-based recovery along more of the western coast, in case anything like this ever happens again in the future. To follow along and watch the progress, follow Colossal socials more about the 2026 and 2025 Colossal Species Reintroduction, go check my Colossal playlist. There are over 40 videos there now. There is a lot that has been done.