Northern Pacific seastars are believed to have been introduced into Tasmania from Japan in the 1980’s. Their numbers are now in the millions and eradication attempts have had little impact. At one point many people took the sea stars out of the ocean, cut them into pieces an then threw them back into the sea. Unfortunately, every piece of seastar that was thrown into the water, grew a new seastar and the population is booming.

These spiny fellas are voracious predators and will eat almost any animal they can capture. In Australian waters they have been recorded feeding on a variety of native animals including shellfish, worms, sea urchins and other seastars and sea squirts. Once alternative food sources have been exhausted they can become cannibalistic.

color-reduction woodcut
image size 13” x 17”
$500 unframed

« click here to buy this starry sea creature woodcut »