Looking like something out of War of the Worlds (the original , not the crappy Tom Cruise version) this picture really does show a Tenerife invasion of sorts though of course not of intrastellar origin.
The black spiky things in the picture are lime urchins. In a balanced eco-system they have a very important role to play in keeping the reefs and corals healthy but in Tenerife, the lime urchin population has exploded. They are hungry little blighters and munch their way across wide swathes of underwater landscape leaving not much edible matter in their wake. (Sort of like when my brother comes to visit)
Like the Tribbles in Star Trek (again the original version) the urchins are insatiable and unless controlled they may end up eating the whole spaceship!!! Aaaahhhh ….
Bumping back down to earth, the lime urchin invasion is not actually news. Plans have been afoot to curb the voracious little buggers for some time – including turning them into a lunchtime delicacy – but as Pamela Heywood of Secret Tenerife said:
It just goes to show you how important balance is, with the right number of the various members of the food chain hierarchy, each having their part in the “grand scheme” and, how important it is that we protect these marine areas and not keep overfishing them, nor tipping heaven knows what kinds of waste into them.
See this picture and more scuba diving photographs at the Tenerife Diving Gallery.
Blimey, did I say that? Must have been in one of my more lucid moments, way back when I still had a brain. My favourite episode in this saga, however, is this one: look half way down the post for the snorkel wearing hedgehog.
For a decent sum, I’ll name the newspaper that published it.
I quite fancy some sea urchin ceviche myself, but haven’t noticed it on any restaurant menus yet. I’d be a bit worried about skewering my lips though.
Maybe Maccy D’s could intoduce a Mcurchin burger. You wouldn’t even need one of those wee cocktails sticks to keep everything together on the bun.
We do have hedgehogs in the south, you know. They just don’t wear snorkels (as far as I know) and I don’t think they like to go paddling much either.
Nor a toothpick once you were done, Jack.
They look as if they could cause serious damage, I presume they live reasonably deep down into the ocean, wouldn’t fancy stepping on one of those when windsurfing..!
these lime sea urchins are found in the shallowest rock pools to 40 meters plus ,there are several campaignes to clear areas, because of the infestation around the canaries
cheers mark
That is a great photograph! Though I am not a ‘water person’ or diver myself (having had problems with my ears when young), I love looking at some of the most brilliant photographs being taken using today’s technology. I also sort of envy people who see all these beautiful sights with their own eyes, as a camera never does the same justice to a view/experience as the naked eye.