MONTEREY – This photo of a flock of starfish devouring the corpse of a sea lion on the seabed was captured beautifully by wildlife photographer David Slater in the shallow waters of Monterey Bay, California, United States (US). This exotic photo is the winner of the California Academy of Science’s Big Picture Competition award for the Aquatic Life category.
It is not clear how the sea lion in the picture died, possibly due to natural causes or killed by anthropogenic factors, such as being hit by a boat, ingesting plastic, or getting entangled in fishing gear. However, the California sea lion population is actually increasing sharply in size and is listed as “least concern” on the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
David Slater captured a photo of a dead sea lion against a backdrop of a group of other sea lions swimming in the waters of Monterey Bay. It is most likely a Californian sea lion (Zalophus californianus), or a Steller’s sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus).
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Meanwhile, a group of starfish that eat the carcass of sea lions, is known as a bat starfish species (Patiria miniata). This is a type of scavenging starfish that has a colorful eskostic body. Bat sea stars play a key role in recycling dead sea lions into energy and nutrients, as well as returning the remains to the marine food web.
“I knew this picture was special when I first published it, but words can’t even describe how I feel to be the winner in such a prestigious contest,” Slater wrote via Instagram. 2022).
The bat star gets its name from the webbing that grows between its arms, which resemble the wings of a bat. Starfish usually have five arms, but can have as many as nine.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, starfish can grow up to 20 centimeters. Sea stars have beautiful colors, the most dominant being red, orange, yellow, brown, green or purple.
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