The Sea Urchin

Rememember the Purple Sea Urchin “test” from June 23? Now you can see these live Purple Sea Urchins. Aren’t these gorgeous? What an amazing purple color! They grow to be, on the average, about the size of a fist. Underneath, they have a bizarre mouth. It is not like the mouth of a human. It is a circle with five sharp teeth that come together in the center. These teeth are strong enough to chew out a hole in the rock (see bottom center of photo). The Purple Sea Urchin slowly crawls down into the hole and remains there. With its spines facing up and most of its body in a hole, it is well protected from predators. They also attach themselves to Kelp. Kelp is the large brown seaweed that floats in coastal waters. We know that animals can compete for food, water, and a place to live. Well, tribal people in this area ate Purple Sea Urchins and Kelp for thousands of years. When the numbers of tribal people became smaller, fewer sea urchins were eaten. Also, companies began to farm and export Kelp. Kelp can be made into vitamin pills, salads, and dried for food. The number of Purple Sea Urchins grew and grew. Kelp farmers thought of the spiny creatures as pests. People would just smash the urchins with mallets under water! But then, people began to notice the worldwide demand was growing for Purple Sea Urchin eggs (called roe or uni). Lots and lots of money could be made by selling these eggs as a delicacy. So instead of breaking the Purple Sea Urchins to bits, humans began harvesting them again. Nowadays, if you go into a fancy restaurant and you order a small serving of Purple Sea Urchin eggs, you will have to pay about $6.00 for this “cup of gold.”


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