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On-Beach Marine Conservation Event
July 18 @ 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
This collaborative event with Ecocentre and Earthcare will investigate the diversity of molluscs by conducting a shoreline shell survey and will include discussion of the returning northern pacific seastars (NPS) and their potential impact on these intertidal communities.
What are Northern Pacific Seastars?
First reported in 1995 by a fisherman in Pont Cook, the Northern Pacific Seastar was thought to have originated in Japan, travelling to Port Phillip Bay via ballast water. They are a declared pest species in Victoria.Though a short lived species, a female NPS can produce up to 20 million eggs, making them a very rapid breeding speceis that can easily displace native species. They are voracious general predators, feeding on molluscs, crabs, barnacles, ascidians, sea squirts and algae. This, along with their mobility and tendency to swarm increases the risk of them displacing and overwhelming native populations.We will discuss the biology of Northern Pacific Seastars, how to tell the difference between them and our native species and how removal events can have a positive impact.Open to citizen scientists of all ages!
First reported in 1995 by a fisherman in Pont Cook, the Northern Pacific Seastar was thought to have originated in Japan, travelling to Port Phillip Bay via ballast water. They are a declared pest species in Victoria.Though a short lived species, a female NPS can produce up to 20 million eggs, making them a very rapid breeding speceis that can easily displace native species. They are voracious general predators, feeding on molluscs, crabs, barnacles, ascidians, sea squirts and algae. This, along with their mobility and tendency to swarm increases the risk of them displacing and overwhelming native populations.We will discuss the biology of Northern Pacific Seastars, how to tell the difference between them and our native species and how removal events can have a positive impact.Open to citizen scientists of all ages!