Have you seen the video of where my inspiration for making porcelain urchins came from?
This video was taken at Davenport Landing in California, a favorite spot of mine and home to millions of purple urchins at low tide. Can you believe, they actually bite away at the rock with their teeth and slowly sculpt their protected home around them?
Purple urchins are beautiful and mesmerizing to watch but they have also been multiplying like crazy in recent years and devouring the kelp beds off the California coast at an unstable rate. This is due to sea star wasting disease, as the sea stars are the main predator of urchins. The urchins have thrived and they can eat up a kelp forest in no time. The kelp forests are the food source and habitat for hundreds of other marine creatures. The good news is that the roe inside the urchins is delicious and a Japanese delicacy called uni, so if you see some purple urchins, don’t be afraid to crack them open and eat up the golden roe, you can help save the kelp beds and get a fancy meal out of it!
If you want to take a piece of the ocean home with you, pieces from this series are available in the online shop.