30/09/2026
𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁 💡: Sea cucumbers can spew out part of their gut to distract predators while they make their escape, a process called 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙨, the Giant California Sea Cucumber, can do something more. Every year around September, it goes into a dormant state. It no longer eats or moves around, and 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗯𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘀: the gut, reproductive and circulatory systems, and breathing apparatus. Several weeks later, the sea cucumber begins to 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 these organs, starting with the gut so it can eat back the weight it lost!😋
𝘈. 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 is not only interesting to biologists, however. It is the target of the 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘆 for most of North America’s Pacific coast. In particular, the populations off Washington State and California are 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: these areas alone are responsible for the overall 𝟰𝟬% 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 of the species over the past 30 years, causing it to be recently assessed as 𝗩𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on the .
Meanwhile in Canada and the state of Alaska, 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. This shows the potential of strict conservation measures in protecting this fascinating species, and the 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲.
🧠: Thank you to Red List assessors: Annie Mercier and Jean-François Hamel for their expertise!
📸: Florida Museum, CC-by-SA-4
IUCN SSC Marine Conservation Committee Senckenberg
