Critter of the Month - Sea Urchin

The spiny denizens of the deep, sea urchins, feature as our critter of the month...

Carl - My name is Carl Gustaf Lundin and I work for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. And if I were a marine species I would be a sea urchin. 

I think the sea urchins drew my attention when I was a really young boy and I helped my father to collect samples in various oceans around the world. He was doing genetic research and as you might know sea urchins go through these larval stages, which are quite dramatic. At one point for example they look like Eifel Towers. So I found this fascinating as a boy, and I helped him to grow them in aquaria and it was one of these things where I always felt akin to the ocean very early on. 

I guess it was also my first marine event as a professional was as in Monaco. I was sent there and with Princess Stefanie we were eating these sea urchin spreads and I was thinking, okay well I could relate to sea urchins. So there you are.