Purple sea urchins, beware: There’s a purple urchin-eating predator on the horizon — and its name is the sunflower sea star. That’s the plot line coming from a small upstart research facility in Moss ...

That balance allowed the local kelp forests to flourish, providing food and protection for young fish and other sea life. Then, in 2013, recreational divers began noticing gruesomely dissolving sea ...

The sunflower sea star—which can span more than three feet across—is a ravenous, roving apex predator able to devour armored animals like urchins, snails, clams, and crabs. But a mysterious wasting ...