Ask any swimmer, diver or snorkeler about these sea creatures and most likely they will tell you about a harrowing encounter, an unwarranted attack. They are described as sneaky bastards that swiftly stalk innocent ocean lovers and purposely inflict painful wounds with their sharp spines. Or so they say.
Personally (knocking on a date tree just in case) I have never had the prickling sensation myself but tons of divers have emerged from the ocean cursing these critters while examining their swollen finger, arm or punctured knee. Now I understand accidents happen and most likely it will happen to me at some point (still knocking on a date tree just in case) but on the other hand I never see folks coming up from down below lamenting about accidentally killing one of these fellows with the swipe of a fin. And that happens a LOT.
The Sea Urchin. So stealthy that perhaps we sometimes forget that these slow-moving herbivores and our lack of proper buoyancy or the urge to touch shit underwater don't mix real well. That said, accidents happen to the best of us and many a time you get down to business with tweezers extracting spines from swearing divers.
The things is, I adore sea urchins. The fuzzy ones, the sharp spiky ones, the ones that look like they are a ball of pencils, you name it. They are just so cool.
And sea urchins are great pals with coral colonies, munching away the nasty invasive algae that is in direct competition with the vibrant coral reefs home to the many marine inhabitants that we like to visit underwater. So they can be kind of like unsung superheroes when you look at it that way.
And without Superheroes things can get ugly. For instance in the 1980s the Diadema sea urchin species was wiped out by a widespread disease in the Caribbean and their coral homies took a harsh beating. The reef got a lot more sparse without these prickly dudes grazing the invasive green pastures.
But the knife cuts both ways and a plethora of sea urchins can decimate bountiful kelp forests. Otters are always handy to have around to do some sea urchin culling but guess what so can you if you live on the Pacific shores of North America with thinning kelpies and armies of delicious sea urchins! PUHA (Pacific Urchin Harvesters Association) has a few recipes to get you started...
By the way that ain't no juicy olive on top of that urchin, yo.
It is the anus sac.
Personally (knocking on a date tree just in case) I have never had the prickling sensation myself but tons of divers have emerged from the ocean cursing these critters while examining their swollen finger, arm or punctured knee. Now I understand accidents happen and most likely it will happen to me at some point (still knocking on a date tree just in case) but on the other hand I never see folks coming up from down below lamenting about accidentally killing one of these fellows with the swipe of a fin. And that happens a LOT.
The Sea Urchin. So stealthy that perhaps we sometimes forget that these slow-moving herbivores and our lack of proper buoyancy or the urge to touch shit underwater don't mix real well. That said, accidents happen to the best of us and many a time you get down to business with tweezers extracting spines from swearing divers.
The things is, I adore sea urchins. The fuzzy ones, the sharp spiky ones, the ones that look like they are a ball of pencils, you name it. They are just so cool.
And sea urchins are great pals with coral colonies, munching away the nasty invasive algae that is in direct competition with the vibrant coral reefs home to the many marine inhabitants that we like to visit underwater. So they can be kind of like unsung superheroes when you look at it that way.
And without Superheroes things can get ugly. For instance in the 1980s the Diadema sea urchin species was wiped out by a widespread disease in the Caribbean and their coral homies took a harsh beating. The reef got a lot more sparse without these prickly dudes grazing the invasive green pastures.
But the knife cuts both ways and a plethora of sea urchins can decimate bountiful kelp forests. Otters are always handy to have around to do some sea urchin culling but guess what so can you if you live on the Pacific shores of North America with thinning kelpies and armies of delicious sea urchins! PUHA (Pacific Urchin Harvesters Association) has a few recipes to get you started...
By the way that ain't no juicy olive on top of that urchin, yo.
It is the anus sac.
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