A Day In The Life Of Spike The Giant Pacific Sea Cucumber (Parastichopus californicus)
By: Alexander Dungate
I‛m a Giant Pacific Sea Cucumber. Hey there I‛m Spike!
My spikes and bright colour help me scare off predators.
My friends call me Spike because of the pointy looking spikes all over my body.
?
….But do you want to know a secret?
I‛m actually very soft!
I live in the ocean off the coast of North America, from Alaska to California.
If you are gentle you can touch me. You‛ll see that my spikes are just for show.
I spend my days scooting around the ocean floor, using dozens of my sticky feet to move around.
But adventuring to the surface can be dangerous for me… I am very delicious.
Sometimes I visit my friends in the tidal pools near the beach!
I‛m an important snack for local indigenous cultures, and a popular delicacy in Asia too. Luckily I am safe down in the deep. I live up to 250m under water, which keeps me safely out of reach of divers looking to catch me.
I‛m walking up to the tidal pools as fast as I can, but it will take me a while to get there…
I have some cool super powers to keep me safe along my journey!
If I sprint I can move up to 4m per day!
If I meet anyone dangerous, I can throw some of my organs at them to scare them away!
Amazingly, I can grow back all my organs!
woah! pretty cool !
Not to brag, but I am a pretty important part of my ecosystem.
I spend my days cleaning up the ocean floor.
IMPORTANT OCEAN CRITTER AWARD
I suck in bits of sand and other particles, clean off anything tasty, then I spit out the clean sand again.
My cleaning helps other sea creatures, and makes it easier for snails & crabs to build their shells.
thanks!
Despite being so important, scientist barely know me!
I don‛t show any signs of aging, so scientist have no idea how to tell how old I am!
? I can grow up to 50cm long, then shrink down to 15cm if I‛m hungry, then grow back to 50cm again!
In the late fall I lose all my internal organs, leaving only my muscles and spiky skin.
Don‛t worry they grow back!
Now you know a little more about my life! I may be small and a little weird, but I‛m super important! So don‛t forget about us little guys. We are key parts of the ecosystem and super complex!
Want to learn more about me? Checkout your local aquarium, or if you‛re lucky you might spot me in a tidal pool, cleaning the rocks and sand.
Spike in the wild.
Please tell your friends how cool I am!