Hurrah! My annual WILD Calendar is now being printed. It’s quite the journey to finalize which photos will be in the calendar, complete the design, and ensure the colours print correctly.
Thank you so much to all who helped by voting on the selection of my photos.
My WILD Calendar is aimed at creating awareness about the diversity and fragility of life hidden in the cold, dark, life-sustaining northeast Pacific Ocean. These waters are dark because they are rich in plankton. With more plankton, they sustain more life, produce more oxygen, and absorb more carbon dioxide.
It’s the 18th year I have made a WILD Calendar. It’s truly moving to feel the support of those of you who put these calendars into the world. You are helping increase connection and understanding of our reliance on the Ocean. That’s needed to make day-by-day decisions that consider the wellbeing of future generations – from whales to octopuses, nudibranchs, sea stars, and our own very strange, two-legged species. 💙
The 2027 WILD Calendarscan be ordered at this link at $28.50 each I am currently away at sea but will ship them as soon as I return, around July 7th.
Each month’s photo has a detailed descriptor. They are large and have BIG spaces to write your daily adventures.
They are printed on sturdy paper on Vancouver Island, coil-bound, and have a hole for hanging. They measure 33 × 26.5 cm closed and 33 × 53 cm open (13 × 10.5″ closed; 13 × 21″ open). Text is included to indicate when there is a full moon (PDT).
All photos were taken by yours truly in the Territory of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw (the Kwak̕wala-speaking Peoples) on northern Vancouver Island. Formatting help by the wonderful Dawn Dudek.
Thank you.
January image and text
So much life: Cold water has more dissolved oxygen. In high-current areas, such as what you see here, there is much mixing and distribution of oxygen and nutrients. As a result, there is more life. It’s the plankton that start it all; the soup of life that fuels the food web. Here you see Giant Plumose Anemones (up to 1 m tall), Crimson Anemones (only described as a distinct species in 2019 by Sanamyan et al.), Red Soft Corals, Giant Acorn Barnacles (the world’s largest barnacle species), Mushroom Compound Tunicates, Peach Ball Sponges, Yellow Boring Sponges, Sulphur Sponges, a variety of hydroids, etc.! Dive buddy in this photo is Don Gordon.
February image and text
Animal, not plant: This is a Giant Pink-Mouth Hydroid. They are up to 10 cm tall. The bead-like structures amid the tentacles are reproductive structures that produce sex cells and incubate fertilized eggs. Hydroids are related to jellies, anemones, and corals (phylum Cnidaria). Almost all are colonial. They catch drifting prey with polyps aided by their nematocysts (stinging cells). No hydroid species off our coast deliver a sting that humans can feel or be harmed by. Greg Jensen notes in Beneath Pacific Tides that Giant Pink-Mouth Hydroids need re-examination to determine if they are the same species as those in the Atlantic (Tubularia indivisa).
March image and text
Thank goodness for Herring: Thank you Pacific Herring for all you sustain, all you connect, and all you heal. Ecosystems would crumble without Herring—they connect ocean, land…and sky. They were very heavily exploited through disconnected, non-integrated, short-term approaches to fisheries. Herring are not a spawn-and-die species. They can live for 8+ years, spawning annually from ~3 years of age. The remaining fishery in BC is for their roe (eggs)—a choice to not allow them to spawn again and fuel the ecosystem. Diving birds preying on Herring cause the fish to ball up near the surface—opportunity for a Bald Eagle to grab talons full of Herring.
April image and text
Striped Stars: This is one of the most variably coloured sea star species off our coast—the gobsmackingly beautiful Striped Sun Star (Solaster stimpsoni, up to 58 cm across). They are ambassadors for the beauty and colour below the waves. They most often have 10 arms and have a blue/purple stripe down the centre of each arm which can be on a background of shades of red, pink, or orange. Some individuals are entirely blue. The diet of Striped Sun Stars includes various species of sea cucumber. There are six species of sea star off our coast that have more than ten arms. The other five many-armed sea star species do not have blue stripes down their arms.
May image and text
Sand-Rose Anemone: One of the world’s largest anemones—up to 1 m across and 25 cm tall. Their column is often partially buried in sand. They feed on plankton and detritus in the water and sometimes host symbiotic shrimp, including Candy Stripe Shrimp. Painted Greenlings also seek refuge under the tentacles. These fish appear to be immune to the anemone’s stinging cells. Sand-Rose Anemones are classified as Urticina columbiana, but the experts at actiniaria.com note: “Surprisingly, despite large size and characteristic exterior, allowing easy identification, its internal structure is insufficiently known and its assignment to Urticina requires confirmation.”
June image and text
Novel feeding strategy: Humpback Whales Twister (BCY0710, left) and Ripple (BCX1063, right) are using a feeding strategy researched by the Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) dubbed trap-feeding. I am a cofounder and team member of MERS. In 2011, we documented this behaviour being used by two Humpbacks. Forty have now been documented feeding this way. When juvenile Pacific Herring are in less dense concentrations and are being pursued by diving birds, the whales hang at the surface with their mouths wide open (for at least 4 seconds). The fish may go into the whale’s mouth to escape the birds. See mersociety.org.
July image and text
Rarest of the rare: This may be the rarest sighting I have ever had off the coast of British Columbia, other than an endangered Leatherback Sea Turtle. Oh, the euphoria when I noticed this beautiful ~2 cm species of stalked jelly on Eelgrass. I believe it is Haliclystus californiensis, described as a “new” species of stauromedusa in 2010 by Kahn et al. At that time, only 10 individuals had been documented, and all were “from southern to northern California in coastal waters”. In iNaturalist, there is only one other sighting in British Columbia. You can imagine how much is still unknown. But with pom-pom-like ends to their appendages, they must feed on plankton.
August image and text
Colourful giant: This nudibranch species, Dendronotus iris, can be up to 30 cm long. They have remarkable colour variations. Adults always have a white line around their foot. They patrol the ocean bottom for Tube-Dwelling Anemones. Nudibranchs can only sense shadows so they must detect this anemone species by smell and/or touch. The Giant Nudibranch pounces on the Tube-Dwelling Anemone which rapidly withdraws into its tube, pulling part of the nudibranch with it. Eventually, the nudibranch emerges, if successful, with some bits of tentacles. As is the way with nudibranchs, they lay their eggs on their prey. Oh, the insult! This nudibranch can also swim.
September image and text
Distracted by dolphins: Pacific White-Sided Dolphins were once thought to be an open-ocean (pelagic) species because coastal sightings were so rare up to the mid 1980s. But some First Nations middens contain dolphin teeth, suggesting they were also an inshore species ~2,000 years ago. They are now common inshore, sometimes in groups of hundreds. Research being done to study them as individuals found that some pairs were resighted together again after 19 years, but social structure is still poorly understood. The dolphins in this photo were herding Pacific Herring near Yalis/Alert Bay. Males to 2.5 m long (Aethalodelphis obliquidens).
October image and text
Astonishing adaptations: Each Orange Sea Pen (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) is a colony of polyps (small anemone-like individuals) working together for the survival of the whole. They can be up to 48 cm tall if not deflated to shrink into the sand and avoid having chunks bitten out of them by their sea star and nudibranch predators. That’s right, they can deflate! Research suggests that how far they retract is specific to the predator species. But wait there’s more! They can also: (1) bioluminesce, producing a greenish-blue light believed to deter predators; (2) drift away by inflating and lifting out of the sand; and (3) produce a toxin (but this is poorly understood).
November image and text
Rock Greenling: Lives in the rocky shallows, at home in the kelp and seagrasses swaying in the surge. This is likely a juvenile. Mature males are so flamboyantly coloured—red and orange mottling with patches of bright red, blue, and/or yellow. But they are still so well camouflaged. Their movements are like the flow of kelp. Little appears to be known about Rock Greenlings with scientific debate about whether those in the northwest Pacific Ocean are the same species as those in the northeast Pacific. Dr. Milton Love discusses how those in Russia are seen in schools. On this side, they are solitary and very territorial. Hexagrammos lagocephalus to 61 cm.
December image and text
Surviving star: Sunflower Stars are the world’s largest sea stars, at up to 1 m across. Before 2013, were you to look down from a dock on our coast, you would likely see these giants. But they are devastated most by Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) caused by a bacterium (Vibrio species) that appears to do better in warmer water. They have an important role in the health of kelp forests by eating Green Urchins that eat kelp. Know that the plight of these stars is not an additional problem. SSWD is a symptom of the same changes that impact our own species. This means there are common solutions. Vote for the future. Care more. Consume less.
I am sharing some marine worm wonder with you. But also, there’s content here that truly qualifies (forgive me) as… cool shit!
Basket-top Spaghetti-Worms build a tube AND A BASKET from bits of debris and extend their tentacles through the basket to feed. The top of the basket is less than 3 cm wide, length is up to 21 cm (species name Pista elongata).
It’s another one of our marine neighbours about which so little is known.
From Andy Lamb and Bernie Hanby’s Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest:
“The lower part of the tube, where the worm resides, is coated with shell fragments and pebbles. Is the purpose of this extravagant tube solely to camouflage and protect the worm . . . or to increase its access to food? The worm extends its long tentacles through the basket to gather food particles selectively . . . The basket-top may also function as a sieve, filtering out particles brought by currents. Elevating the tube above the rocky substrate may provide the elongate, and tree-like branchia (gills), hidden in the basket, with a good supply of oxygenated water.”
To know these little wonders exist is already life-enhancing. But then, recently, I unexpectedly got an action shot. I happened to notice one among all the splendour you see in the photo below.
I took a few photos and, upon reviewing them, noticed that, ever so briefly, there was a structure extending from the basket, and it was expelling something. There were two possibilities for what this could be: gametes (sex cells) or waste. I expected it to be the latter since it was so brief. The photos 12 seconds before and after the one you see below did NOT have this structure.
I checked with Andy Lamb, who confirmed the Basket-top Spaghetti worm was defecating (and asked to use the photo in his online book). I will spare you the poo puns. But in my little world, this does feel like a big deal. To have learned to recognize the species, be able to photograph it in high current, and maybe to be among the few who were looking closely enough to observe and share in this way.
Sincerely, I hope you are moved.
Below are more photos of Basket-top Spaghetti-worms.
Hello, dear Community. It’s that time of year again! Do you want to help decide which photos will be in next year’s WILD calendar?
The calendar is aimed at creating awareness and positive action for the mysterious and fragile life hidden in the cold, dark, northeast Pacific Ocean.”
I enjoy, and learn, a great deal from your input. And the voting is meant to be fun for you too. 💙 You can select up to 13 of your favourites by May 11, 2026.
Your votes will count heavily in determining which images will be included in the calendar. Please know that I will also have to reflect on the diversity represented in the calendar so that there is balanced colour and species representation, e.g. the images in the calendar can’t all be marine mammals, kelp, fish or nudibranchs! There should also be at least one photo of a Humpback Whale (considering I have the privilege of studying them).
There are 36 images to choose from. I have tracked which photos you have responded to the most strongly over the last ~year. ☺️ This is meant to be fun for you, and I truly enjoy and learn a lot from your input.
Feel free to indicate in the comments if there is a photo you would like to see on the front cover or back cover. Note that the back cover image will ONLY be on the back cover.
All photos are from northeast Vancouver Island, taken in the traditional territories of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw (the Kwak̕wala-speaking Peoples) by yours truly, Jackie Hildering, The Marine Detective.
There are two ways you can vote:
Via the surveyat this link. You don’t need to submit any personal information or have an account.
The following photos from my dive yesterday near northeast Vancouver Island are of a new, “undescribed” species of sea star. I documented three different individuals of this species on our dive yesterday, and you will note the colour variation.
I am sharing this with you because it is AGAIN evidence of how little we know about marine species, even in the shadows. May this add to having the appropriate humility and precaution in what we think we know and how we treat the ocean.
One of the individuals with a Northern Kelp Crab.
New? This means that previously, humans did not realize it was a distinct species.
Undescribed? This means it is an organism recognized by scientists to be distinct but research has not yet been conducted and published describing how the species is distinct and naming it.
Neil confirmed that it is a “Solaster” (genus) and is, for now, referencing it as Solaster sp. A.
How do I know the three I photographed yesterday are this “new” species? Because I misidentified one in an email to Neil McDaniel. Who let me know the following:
“I believe this is the undescribed species of Solaster found on our coast. In Lambert (2000), it is described as Solaster paxillatus, but my understanding is that is a NW Pacific (Japan) species, not NE Pacific . . . This Solaster usually has between 8 to 10 rays with a rather rough-looking aboral surface due to the conspicuous pseudopaxillae. Colour ranges from yellowish through a deeper orange. It is never bicoloured like stimpsoni [Striped Sun Star]. The rays can be fairly slim or quite puffy-looking. Unlikely to be confused with Solaster dawsoni [Morning Sun Star], which usually has more rays (12 is common), or Solaster endeca [Purple Sun Star], which has a similar number of rays, but much shorter and stouter”. (Neil McDaniel, pers.comm.)
Is it rare? Likely not! More likely is that it has been misidentified, even in Lambert (2000). Neil references it as likely hiding in plain sight. Because who is looking? These three were near a dock, which, like so many docks on our coast, had debris of human origin nearby.
Do you think you have photographed one? If yes, it’s best to upload your photos to iNaturalist to add to the collective knowledge about the species.
Dive buddy Janice Crook near one of the Solaster sp. A. on our dive yesterday. Buddy John Congden was also on this dive.
This large species of Solaster has not been described. It reaches 40 cm in diameter and has 9-11 rays, most often 10″ and “This star was once thought to be Solaster paxillatus, (which is found in the NW Pacific), but specimens collected from Knight Inlet were confirmed to be an undescribed species of Solaster (Chris Mah, pers. comm.).”
Screenshot of Neil McDaniel’s entry about this species on iNaturalist.
It’s b-earthday, April 22nd. That’s a combination of Earth Day and my birthday.
Here’s my gift to you – information and imagery about the “Common Sea Butterfly” (Limacina helicina), also known as the “Helicid Pteropod”.
Imagine the awe of being surrounded by these tiny, winged, shelled animals. The largest are only 1.5 cm. Most are smaller. They appear as fragile as they do wondrous. Indeed, their very thin shells are heavily impacted by ocean acidification.
Their motion is transfixing, rhythmic – their “wings” clapping and flinging in a figure-of-eight pattern to create lift. Where other slugs and snails crawl, the foot of sea butterflies evolved into swimming structures, the parapodia. They use their feet as wings – living as plankton, never to crawl, only to fly.
I want to be able to use my feet as wings! I also want to be able to cast a mucus net like they do! Read on.
My dive group and the God’s Pocket Team, April 2026. Photo by Petra Meijer.
Background on the images:
The images in this blog were taken on the recent trip I organized to God’s Pocket. I have never noticed this species of sea butterfly before, and certainly not in such numbers. That’s right, the so-called COMMON Sea Butterfly is not common in this area at all. Despite the abundance of these planktonic marvels during this trip, I initially did not notice them when most of the other divers on my trip did. I had to laugh at myself when I did the next dive and saw just how abundant they were in the shallows. With the camera setup I had, I was literally focusing on bigger life.
I am very grateful to Olivia’s Reef Diving for sharing her stunning footage. Believe me, it is NOT easy to get these small swimming slugs in focus while also contending with current. It’s no small feat to get such good video of a sea slug flying with its feet!
Classification:
Sea butterfly species are flying gastropods (snails/slugs) belonging to the Pteropoda (clade). Ptero = winged and poda = foot. As described in Nudibranchs and Sea Slugs of Eastern Pacific, the pteropods are “graceful, pelagic sea slugs that resemble transparent gelatinous butterflies”.
Common Sea Butterfly. Yeah, I managed to get photos which are ALMOST fully in focus!
Not all Pteropoda are sea butterflies and include species that I have blogged about previously:
Note that Great-Winged Sea Slugs, while also a sea slug (Heterobranchia) that flaps “wings”, they are not pteropods.
There, don’t you feel better now that that’s sorted out? I am here to bring order to your life. See what I did there?
Sea Angel (Clione limacina) – predator of sea butterflies. Photographed during the same dive trip.
Morphology:
Most sea butterflies (Thecosomata) have shells.
The shell and parapodia of the Common Sea Butterfly (Limacina helicina). Source: Wikipedia.
The very thin shells of sea butterfly species like Limacina helicina are made of aragonite, which is a form of calcium carbonate that dissolves very easily, especially in colder waters. This makes them very vulnerable to ocean acidification resulting from climate change.
The ocean absorbs about one-third of human-produced carbon dioxide, which lowers pH, reduces the availability of calcium carbonate needed to build shells, and weakens and dissolves shells.
Research confirms that the sea butterflies cannot build and maintain their shells under more acidic conditions. Because their shells are essential to protection, buoyancy, and vertical movement, reduced shell integrity has direct consequences for survival. Since sea butterflies are an essential part of marine food webs, they are a key indicator species for ocean acidification, providing an early warning of broader ecosystem change – particularly in the Arctic.
Locomotion:
From the abstract of “Underwater flight by the planktonic sea butterfly” (Murphy et al., 2016):
“In a remarkable example of convergent evolution, we show that the zooplanktonic sea butterfly Limacina helicina ‘flies’ underwater in the same way that very small insects fly in the air. Both sea butterflies and flying insects stroke their wings in a characteristic figure-of-eight pattern to produce lift, and both generate extra lift by peeling their wings apart at the beginning of the power stroke (the well-known Weis-Fogh ‘clap-and-fling’ mechanism). It is highly surprising to find a zooplankter ‘mimicking’ insect flight as almost all zooplankton swim . . . using their appendages as paddles rather than wings. The sea butterfly is also unique in that it accomplishes its insect-like figure-of-eight wing stroke by extreme rotation of its body (what we call ‘hyper-pitching’), a paradigm that has implications for micro aerial vehicle (MAV) design. No other animal, to our knowledge, pitches to this extent under normal locomotion.”
Feeding:
Reportedly, sea butterfly species produce a mucous web, many times bigger than they are (said to be up to 6 cm for the Common Sea Butterfly). When they have “cast” their net, they slowly sink, and plankton and organic particles get trapped in the net! They are thought to feed when they are not actively swimming.
What a huge b-earthday gift it would be if someone could find a picture or graphic of the net! Believe me, I searched!
Sea butterfly species and other pteropods are sometimes referenced as the “potato chips of the sea” because they are fed on by so many other species and therefore have great importance in the marine food web. Predators include Sea Angels, fish, birds, and there is also some cannibalism.
Summary from Wikipedia. “They produce large mucus webs to filter-feed on phytoplankton but also small zooplankton. They eat the web with the captured prey . . . The web is large and spherical and it is difficult to see during the day because of diffuse reflection. Webs are easier to see at night. Limacina helicina is easily disturbed (like all other Thecosomata); when disturbed, it retracts into its shell and destroys its web.“
Range / Habitat:
Sea butterfly species spend their whole lives as plankton (are holoplanktonic). They are most commonly reported where water temperature is in the range of – 0.4 °C to + 4.0 °C. They are said to rarely be in areas with temperatures up to 7 °C, but that was the approximate temperature when we saw them.
From Earthling Nature: The habitat of the common sea butterfly includes the cold waters of the Arctic region, including the Arctic Ocean and neighboring areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In the Pacific, it can occur southward to Japan and the northern parts of the United States. Larger specimens tend to inhabit deeper waters, up to 150 m deep, while smaller ones live closer to the surface, up to 50 m down. Until very recently, the Common Sea Butterfly was thought to inhabit Antarctic waters as well but molecular studies revealed that the populations around Antarctica belong to a different species, Limacina antarctica.
Smaller Limacina helicina (from 0.2 to 0.4 mm) are said to be more often in shallower waters (0 m to 50 m). Larger individuals can also be in the shallows but are more likely to be deeper, to 150 m.
Reproduction / Life Cycle:
Sea butterflies all start their lives as males and, when larger than ~5 mm, they change into females = they are protandric hermaphrodites. Egg ribbons are laid mainly in summer.
Said to live about ~1 year or up to 2 years in colder waters.
What a gift it is that we share the earth with such organisms. May we care more, and do more, knowing our connection to such winged wonder. Happy b-earthday.
Photos below: Another, much bigger local sea butterfly species – the Spectacular Corolla (Corolla spectabilis). Dive buddy is Natasha Dickinson.
Döring, M. (2022). Limacina helicina (Phipps, 1774). In English Wikipedia – Species Pages. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved April 21, 2026, via GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/species/165475365
GBIF Secretariat. (n.d.). Limacina helicina (Phipps, 1774). Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved April 22, 2026, from https://www.gbif.org/species/165475365
Rudman, W. B. (2002, December 12). Corolla spectabilis Dall, 1871. In Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum. Retrieved April 22, 2026, from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/corospec
It brought a lump to my throat to see both these species at the same time. The Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker because this species is so cryptic and extraordinarily adapted (please read more about them in my blog “Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker – the fish, the disc, the marvel”). The Sunflower Stars because they are in such trouble due to Sea Star Wasting Disease. Sunflower Stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) are the biggest sea star species in the world at up to 1 metre across.
But, somehow the conditions are such at this location that some adults appear to be surviving. I regularly document “waves” of juveniles but have seen so very few large ones since the onset of Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) in 2013. I report all Sunflower Star sightings to researchers.
We would document thirteen Sunflower Stars during this dive – four at around seven cm across and nine at over 20 cm across.
And with that lump in my throat, I thought of sharing the photos of the Sunflower Stars with you and what the reaction might be. When I share photos of Sunflower Stars, some reactions suggest that I am diluting concern about them rather than educating about their plight and how this is believed to be related to a changing climate (which means there are common, and well known solutions that benefit life on earth).
Yes, there is hope. There certainly is. But, as I find myself stating and feeling so often, hope without action is paralysis. I recently came across the following quote which captures this so powerfully:
“People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider’s webs. It’s not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.” Source Matthew @CrowsFault on X
So here’s to the action that is Hope in all her power – for the stars, the lumpsuckers, and for all of us too.
The photos below show more Sunflower Stars documented on this dive, and how shallow some were. Please see the additional text below for details about the plight of Sunflower Stars.
The text below is from my December 31, 2025 blog “Survivors” providing detail about the plight of Sunflower Stars and why, tragically, it is has become exceptional to see them (especially large individuals). The Sunflower Stars documented in the photos are from the same location as those in the above photos. Yes, some of them may be the same individuals. 💙
This Sunflower Star is ~1 metre across, December 30, 2025. Dive buddy is Janice Crook.Believed to be the same Sunflower Star in the exact same spot on January 3rd, 2026. Another two large Sunflower Stars on the same dive on December 30, 2025. There was a third on the other side of the cement block.
Why Does It Matter?
Sunflower Stars are the world’s largest sea star species at up to 1 metre across (Pycnopodia helianthoides). Before 2013, were you to look down from a dock in BC and Washington, you would likely see them . . . icons of our coast, common giants, and often what children would draw in seascapes.
That is no more.
What happened to 20 sea star species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean has been referenced as “the largest epidemic ever recorded in a wild marine species.” Sunflower Stars were the most impacted and there are far-reaching impacts due to their ecological role.
Still many people do not know about their plight despite over 12 years of disease (and a horrific progression of symptoms). You can bet that if a whole lot of Sea Otters (which have similar ecological roles) died there would have been almighty public outcry. But this happened below the surface, in the dark, to species without eyes and fur.
What Happened?
Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) began in 2013 and yes, recently Canadian researchers concluded what the pathogen / causative agent is. It’s the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida. But of course this does not mean that Wasting Disease is “solved”.
Why would this bacterium be able to have the impact it has? What changed?
From the research by Prentice et al. (2025) “Vibrio spp. have been coined ‘the microbial barometer of climate change’, because of the increasing prevalence of pathogenic species associated with warming water temperatures. Given that existing evidence indicates a relationship between increasing seawater temperature and SSWD incidence . . . ”
Where Are Things at Now?
In May 2025, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) recommended to the Government of Canada that Sunflower Stars be protected as an endangered species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. It can be years before there is a decision.
This is not only important in Canada but the survivors in BC might be a reservoir for Washington State too where things appear to be even worse for the species.
Another large Sunflower Star on December 30, 2025. You can see how shallow some of them were, indicated here by the presence of the Eelgrass and being able to see the surface of the water.
What To Do?
Celebrate survivors – yes. Know that the plight of Sunflower Stars is not an additional problem. SSWD is a symptom of the same changes that impact our own species which means, there are common solutions regarding energy use, how we vote, and consumerism generally.
If you have read to this point in the blog, you are particularly important. You clearly care about life below the surface, in the dark. Help others know the importance of this coast. Help work against “ocean blindness” where the cold, dark waters full of plankton are devalued because it is more difficult to see the life living there. (Warm, clear waters are often perceived to be “better” because you can see far more easily see below the surface. But, if you can see through the water, there is far, far less plankton – the fuel of the marine food web.)
Children should know Sunflower Stars and their place on this glorious coast.
Since the onset of SSWD in 2013, I have tracked research and developments at this link. Includes where to report sightings.
Sunflower Stars eat Green Urchins which graze on kelp. With fewer Sunflower Stars, there is more grazing on kelp by Green Urchins. Research suggests that Sunflower Stars can be 15 metres away and still help with deterring urchins (red urchins in the research by Mancuso et al., 2025).
I feel compelled to share this new research by Lancaster et al., 2025 with you because: 1. It is about a non-destructive / non-invasive way to study fish. Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) to determine wild fish presence in the same way one would identify birds by their calls.
2. It is yet another example of how little we know about even common marine species. Among the eight species of fish near Vancouver Island for which vocalizations were documented by the researchers, this is the first time ever that the sounds of Canary and Vermillion Rockfish have been identified.
3. The title of the research paper is so clever: “Knock knock, who’s there? Identifying wild species-specific fish sounds with passive acoustic localization and random forest models”.
4. I know you want to see the video below and listen to the sounds!
“University of Victoria (UVic) biologists have discovered that even closely related fish species make unique and distinctive sounds and determined that it’s possible to differentiate between the sounds of different species. The discovery opens the door to identifying fish based on sound alone.
Using passive acoustics, the researchers identified unique sounds for eight different Vancouver Island fish species in their natural habitats. They then developed a machine learning model that can predict which sounds belonged to which species with up to 88 per cent accuracy. This could have positive implications for marine conservation efforts and allow scientists to monitor specific fish species using acoustics, says Darienne Lancaster, a PhD candidate in biology who led the project.
The research, published in the Journal of Fish Biology, is part of the larger fish sounds project run out of the Juanes Lab at UVic…
While researchers have been identifying fish sounds for years, these sounds were typically recorded in a laboratory setting, rather than in the wild and whether different species made unique sounds had never been tested.
Lancaster identified unique sounds for eight different species of fish commonly found on the coast of British Columbia: the black rockfish, quillback rockfish, copper rockfish, lingcod, canary rockfish, vermillion rockfish, kelp greenling and pile perch. This was the first time, in the lab or the wild, that sounds had been identified for the canary and vermillion rockfish.
“It has been exciting to see how many different species of fish make sounds and the behaviours that go along with these calls,” says Lancaster. “Some fish, like the quillback rockfish, make rapid grunting sounds when they’re being chased by other fish, so it’s likely a defensive mechanism. Other times, fish, like copper rockfish, will repeatedly make knocking sounds as they chase prey along the ocean floor.”
The black rockfish make a long, growling sound similar to a frog croak and the quillback rockfish make a series of short knocks and grunts…
Lancaster used a technique called passive acoustic monitoring to identify the fish sounds. She collected underwater audio and video using a sound localization array designed by former UVic PhD student and project collaborator, Xavier Mouy, and then used sound characteristics to identify differences in species calls.
Her machine learning model used a set of 47 different sound features, such as duration and frequency, to detect small differences in each species’ sounds that can be used to tell them apart. The model used these small differences in sound features to group species calls together.
“The ability of passive acoustics to identify specific fish by sound could be an important new tool for conservationists and fisheries managers,” says Francis Juanes, UVic biology professor and principal investigator on the project. “Passive acoustics could allow us to estimate population size, monitor activity, and assess the overall health of a fish population in a way that is minimally invasive to vulnerable marine animals.”
Figure 2 in the research paper: “Localization array with visualization of copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) calling near hydrophones. (images, Shane Gross; graphics, Darienne Lancaster).”Table 2 from the research paper: “Summary of knock features (mean and standard deviation) for each species. Note: Only sounds with an ID confidence of 1 (high) were included for most species. Sounds with ID confidence 2 (moderate) were included for lingcod as no high confidence knocks were recorded. Kelp greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus) knocks were not included as ID confidence for all knocks was low. Full species scientific names: black rockfish (Sebastes melanops), canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger), copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus), lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), pile perch (Rhacochilus vacca), quillback rockfish (Sebastes maliger), vermillion rockfish (Sebastes miniatus).”
Excerpts from the research paper’s discussion: “We documented knocks and/or grunts for eight species of rocky reef fish. Two species—canary and vermillion rockfish—have never been documented as soniferous, and pile perch sounds have not been documented since 1966 (Meldrim & Walker, 1966). Black rockfish sounds have never been described or presented in spectrogram form (Fletcher, 1969). We provide summaries of species sound features in Tables S3–S5 and audio of species sounds are available on our data repository. We also demonstrate the importance of analysing field rather than aquarium recordings to determine if fish are soniferous and to characterize species calls. Aquarium-based studies can struggle to determine sonifery and the range of sounds in fishes’ repertoires. For example, an aquarium study by Nichols (2005) failed to elicit sounds from canary, black, and vermillion rockfish through prodding, but our study in fish habitat found that all three species are soniferous…
It was not possible to determine if kelp greenling are soniferous during this study. Kelp greenling were frequently present in videos, and we identified 25 possible kelp greenling calls with low ID confidence. Kelp greenling were typically interacting with other soniferous fish during calling activities so it was impossible to confidently determine which fish was calling. Further studies on kelp greenling calling would be useful to determine if they are soniferous.
Copper and quillback rockfish showed similar sound feature characteristics and were sometimes misclassified in the random forest knock model. This similarity is unsurprising as these two species can hybridize (Schwenke et al., 2018). However, quillback rockfish knocks and grunts had higher peak frequencies than copper rockfish sounds. We are unsure if this is a species-specific trait or an artefact of size differences across species. Higher frequency sounds often occur in smaller conspecifics (Kasumyan, 2008; Mann & Lobel, 1995; Myreberg et al., 1993; Rountree & Juanes, 2020), and larger copper rockfish are typically found at the same depth range as smaller quillback rockfish (Love et al., 2002). Future work will use our stereo-camera length information to examine size impacts on call characteristics.
This study expands the utility of PAM for assessing species richness and presence/absence, which are cornerstones of conservation and fisheries monitoring. We outline a novel method for collecting wild fish sounds and identifying species-specific sound features for use in fish sound detectors. Our study results can be used to detect the presence of specific fish species based on our documented sound parameters, which provide much greater precision than acoustic indices like ADI (Dimoff et al., 2021; Minello et al., 2021). Our work also contributes to the growing library of marine fish sounds required for PAM abundance estimation, but more localization studies are required to document the diversity of soniferous fish sounds. Future research should focus on localizing sounds for more species as well as collecting additional sound samples for underrepresented species. Further research into regional differences in species-specific calls is also recommended to determine the transferability of sound characteristics.”
You could be lucky enough to get BC researchers to provide education on fish bioacoustics: “FishSounds Educate is a free educational program that aims to use the topic of bioacoustics (biological sounds) to encourage future conservation leaders and enhance ocean literacy across Canada.” See this link.
Lancaster, D., Mouy, X., Haggarty, D., & Juanes, F. (2025). Knock knock, who’s there? Identifying wild species-specific fish sounds with passive acoustic localization and random forest models. Journal of Fish Biology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70294
Note: I will try to get/find the sound samples of the Canary and Vermillion Rockfish. They have not yet been uploaded to Fishsounds.net. From that resource I did find the samples of the vocals of these species referenced in the research:
And for more vocals from fish (and other species) go to the “Discovery of Sounds in the Sea (DOSITS)” website. You do NOT want to miss the sounds of the Plainfin Midshipman, another common species off our coast. Then also go to this Nature of Things clip featuring this species with expert input from Sarika Cullis-Suzuki who did her PhD research on Plainfin Midshipman.
The following is what I posted on my social media channels just before 2025 turned into 2026. The post has resonated with so many that I considered if I should share the content in a blog too. The deal I made with myself is that if the “reach” on social media was over 15,000, I would dare to do so. It’s well over that now so, here goes.
What you read below is what I shared on the cusp of January 1, 2026. May the words land where they affirm, heal, and fortify.
“I hurt. Maybe you hurt too. I believe in good, and truth. Maybe you believe too.
As it goes with such posts where I have to dig deep, I need to write this for myself. But, I anticipate I do not hurt alone. So, here goes in the belief that these words will be of use to others too.
In these final hours of 2025, I can’t bring myself to just post a pretty picture and type the words “Happy New Year!” for you. That somehow feels dishonest and as if I am contributing to blind hope. Yo, shake the dice and maybe rolling from December 31 to January 1 will somehow bring better order to the world.
It’s going to take more than that.
Many of us are acutely aware of the forces aimed solidly and so effectively at increasing overwhelm, fear, disengagement, and distortion of reality. The game plan is for it to be “too much”.
But are we aware of our reaction to it all? Are we among the fallen? Have we shut down, gone dark, or numb? Do we “hope” without action? Do we have to carry the weight of it all?
I rawly know the answer to that last question. We can’t carry the weight of it all nor dizzy ourselves with the details of all the insanity and inhumanity. Again, that’s the game plan… bury them.
But, I do need to have my eyes open enough to feel my way forward among the assaults on truth, facts, integrity, and equality. To know these assaults are aided by the misuse of artificial intelligence, reduced scientific literacy, conspiracy theories, the manufacturing of divisiveness, the erosion of journalistic integrity and the capacity for fact-checking, etc.
The chaos over our border has fed patriotism that favours short-term economic gain over potential long-term devastation. I think something broke in me when the rhetoric began anew about pipelines and tankers. We’ve been here before.
How to have a Happy New Year? How will I have a Happy New Year? Stand for truth. Put good into the world. Know the good and beauty around you. And protect the good in yourself, and others.
Onward.
It feels vulnerable as hell to hit “post” on this. May the words land where they may be of use.”
This Sunflower Star is ~1 metre across. It’s the same sea star in the above two images. Dive buddy is Janice Crook.
I screamed underwater in sheer euphoria the other day upon seeing the Sunflower Star in the above two images. It’s the largest one I have seen in years. Dive buddy Janice Crook and I found a total of seven relatively large Sunflower Stars and one juvenile during this dive. These sightings have been reported to researchers.
Why Euphoria?
Because Sunflower Stars are in terrible trouble and somehow at this site conditions are such that some adults are surviving. I regularly document “waves” of juveniles but have seen so very few large ones. To see seven relatively large ones at one shallow site in British Columbia is truly exceptional.
Another two large Sunflower Stars on the same dive. There was a third on the other side of the cement block.
Why Does It Matter?
Sunflower Stars are the world’s largest sea star species at up to 1 metre across (Pycnopodia helianthoides). Before 2013, were you to look down from a dock in BC and Washington, you would likely see them . . . icons of our coast, common giants, and often what children would draw in seascapes.
That is no more.
What happened to 20 sea star species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean has been referenced as “the largest epidemic ever recorded in a wild marine species.” Sunflower Stars were the most impacted and there are far-reaching impacts due to their ecological role.
Still many people do not know about their plight despite over 12 years of disease (and a horrific progression of symptoms). You can bet that if a whole lot of Sea Otters (which have similar ecological roles) died there would have been almighty public outcry. But this happened below the surface, in the dark, to species without eyes and fur.
What Happened?
Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD) began in 2013 and yes, recently Canadian researchers concluded what the pathogen / causative agent is. It’s the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida. But of course this does not mean that Wasting Disease is “solved”.
Why would this bacterium be able to have the impact it has? What changed?
From the research by Prentice et al. (2025) “Vibrio spp. have been coined ‘the microbial barometer of climate change’, because of the increasing prevalence of pathogenic species associated with warming water temperatures. Given that existing evidence indicates a relationship between increasing seawater temperature and SSWD incidence . . . ”
Where Are Things at Now?
In May 2025, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) recommended to the Government of Canada that Sunflower Stars be protected as an endangered species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. It can be years before there is a decision.
This is not only important in Canada but the survivors in BC might be a reservoir for Washington State too where things appear to be even worse for the species.
Another large Sunflower Star – you can see how shallow some of them were, indicated here by the presence of the Eelgrass and being able to see the surface of the water
What To Do?
Celebrate survivors – yes. Know that the plight of Sunflower Stars is not an additional problem. SSWD is a symptom of the same changes that impact our own species which means, there are common solutions regarding energy use, how we vote, and consumerism generally.
If you have read to this point in the blog, you are particularly important. You clearly care about life below the surface, in the dark. Help others know the importance of this coast. Help work against “ocean blindness” where the cold, dark waters full of plankton are devalued because it is more difficult to see the life living there. (Warm, clear waters are often perceived to be “better” because you can see far more easily see below the surface. But, if you can see through the water, there is far, far less plankton – the fuel of the marine food web.)
Children should know Sunflower Stars and their place on this glorious coast.
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Since the onset of SSWD in 2013, I have tracked research and developments at this link. Includes where to report sightings.
Sunflower Stars eat Green Urchins which graze on kelp. With fewer Sunflower Stars, there is more grazing on kelp by Green Urchins. Research suggests that Sunflower Stars can be 15 metres away and still help with deterring urchins (red urchins in the research by Mancuso et al., 2025).
Ever feel like you want to drift away for a while? Here you go, a slideshow featuring my photos of kelp and other seaweeds/algae.
Maybe watch it while listening to your favourite calming songs?
I put this slideshow together for an upcoming workshop on seaweed. It’s full, but you can sign up for alerts about future workshops.
Photos are from near northeast Vancouver Island taken by yours truly in the Traditional Territories of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw (the Kwak̕wala-speaking Peoples). Final photo of me photographing kelp is by dive buddy, Don Gordon.
The Importance of Algae The Ocean’s algae, from the microscopic to the giant kelps:
The algae / seaweeds are producers, converting sunlight to food to fuel the food web. They offer we humans so much nutrition too.
Kelps are habitat for hundreds of species.
Kelp in Trouble Where every species lives is, of course, because the conditions are right. For example, the temperature is not too cold. It’s not too hot. It’s just right. Yes, this is referenced as the Goldilocks Principle. Changing temperatures are impacting the health of kelp forests, as are other variables involved with climate change such as more frequent and stronger winds ripping away more kelp.
Also, there are far fewer Sunflower Stars due to Sea Star Wasting Disease which is believed to be associated with climate change. Sunflower Stars are predators of Green Urchins. Green Urchins graze on kelp. With less Sunflower Stars, there are more Green Urchins. More urchins leads to more grazing on kelp. In the extreme, this leads to “urchin barrens” where the kelp forest has been grazed away. This is not the urchins’ fault, of course. It’s due to human activity.
Less kelp = less food, oxygen, habitat and buffering of carbon dioxide.
Common Solutions: This is not an additional problem! There are common solutions for many socio/environmental problems. What is going on with kelp is another symptom of the same negative forces – disconnect, a focus on short-term economies, and a culture that perpetuates fear, misinformation, overwhelm and reduced empowerment. Whatever you do to reduce carbon dioxide (from your energy use, consumerism, to how you vote) will help the kelp and all that depends on them. 💙
The Marine Detective 