WEBVTT - How Do Sea Urchins Work? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:06.480 Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.959 rain Stuff, Lauren voc obam here. Whoever it was that 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.560 first came upon the sharp, spiny body of a sea 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.760 urchin and said, Hey, let's crack this bad boy open 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.880 and see if the orange goo inside tastes good. Deserves 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:23.279 a gold medal in bravery and sheer determination. The sea 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.200 urchin is a small, spiny sea creature called a kindaderm. 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.200 Sea urchins, along with all members of the Philomicina dermata, 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:34.199 are found only in the ocean, a particularly unusual quality 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:36.639 as a large number of aquatic animals tend to take 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.440 up residents in lakes and streams as well. Sea urchins 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.920 most often can be found in shallow water and even 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.760 carpet the sea floor in some areas. Commercial sea urchin 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.800 fishing began in Japan soon after World War Two, before 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.400 spreading to the entire Pacific rim by the nineteen seventies, 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.160 and within two more decades the practice would spread to 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:59.640 the Atlantic region. We spoke with Bob Stenic, professor of oceanography, 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.800 marine biology, and marine policy at the University of Maine. 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.560 He said the global peak and sea urchin harvests occurred 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.640 around and has declined ever since. In many places, it's 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:14.119 a poster child example of over fishing. In the year 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.680 two thousand, twenty million pounds that's about nine million kilos 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.679 of sea urchins were harvested in California and sold to 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:24.160 markets in Japan. But if you've never tried it, you 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.200 might be curious about what all the fuss is about. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.360 We also spoke with David Glass, accomplished dessert chef, self 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:33.280 described sea urchin fanatic and father to the author of 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:36.200 today's episode. He has a few choice words, but it 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:40.400 comes to consuming these bizarre little creatures. Quote the brilliant 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:44.920 orange color, slightly fermented, aroma, and solidity, suggesting a catastrophic 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.960 explosion of flavor in your mouth. Proceed your first taste. 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:52.360 That first taste is sticky, oceanic, sweet and fermented, and 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:54.720 everything else that makes up the taste, known as umami. 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.840 Poetry starts to flood your brain. In Layman's terms, see 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:06.280 chin called uni in Japanese, tastes weird but fine. It's gooey, runny, funky, savory, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:08.120 but with a hint of sweet and salt, with a 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:11.359 texture somewhere between an egg yolk and jello. It is 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:16.359 a very very unusual taste, but when prepared right provocative 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.520 after humans, The sea urchin's second biggest predator is one 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.400 of its own fellow aquinoderm that we're all familiar with, 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:27.120 the starfish. If you think starfish are beautiful, get ready 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.280 to be kind of horrified with this graphic nugget. The 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.600 starfish will wrap itself around the sea urchin, then evert 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.120 their stomach out of their body onto the sea urchin 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.600 in order to dissolve the shell with their gastric juices 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:43.239 and eventually get to the tasty flesh within. And sea 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.400 urchin's own eating habits are just as fascinating. It has 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:48.880 a circle of five sharp teeth on the bottom of 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.440 its body and yes, this looks like something out of 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.720 Stranger Things that it uses to scrape algae and collect 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.079 kelp off of the rocks it lives on, and can 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.000 even use them to burrow into the rocks for a 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.360 better hold on the ocean floor or to make itself 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.880 a little hideaway. But they're not vegetarians. They'll eat other 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.560 animals or each other if they get the chance. Scientists 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.679 also believe that some species of sea urchins don't age, 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.560 meaning they don't die unless they're killed by something, and 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:19.000 they don't lose the capacity to reproduce. Stenic said, a 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.120 sea urchin's body plan is pretty unique. One could say 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.160 it's a hollow limestone sphere made out of numerous hexagonal plates, 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.840 sort of like a geodisc dome, with spines that make 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.079 it look like a pincushion. They move slowly using numerous 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:37.120 small tubular section devices called tube feet. These tube feet 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.000 are strong muscles the protrude from the ends of the spines, 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.040 which they can attach to rocks or coral, allowing them 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.560 to move over the sea floor and those little spines. 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:49.600 Think of them as sharp feet that are just achin 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.680 to pierce your skin. While it's certainly not pleasant, Stenic 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.440 assures that stepping on a sea urchin is not deadly, 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.560 and he has to date never heard of a fatal 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.520 case to an accidental trampling. Still, if you're worried about 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.400 stepping on one of these guys, well maybe wear rubber 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.640 soled shoes and try not to prick on the feet 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.800 by one of these spines can cause damage to the 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:15.160 skin and sometimes even the bone inside a few species. 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.280 Spines can be venomous, but not so much that it 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.839 would be fatal to humans. The worst that can happen 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:23.000 is a potential allergic reaction or further injury from trying 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.560 to remove the spine. Instead of tugging at it, use vinegar, 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.120 which will dissolve the spine and leave behind only the 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.440 distant memory of that time that you stepped on a 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.800 living pin cushion. So, whether you accidentally come upon these 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:38.440 spiny marine creatures on the sea floor via your foot, 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:40.960 or take a bit of its insides brushed with soy 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.080 sauce over rice, you really have to appreciate the sea 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:52.920 urchin for its unbroken commitment to staying weird. Today's episode 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.320 was written by Jeremy Glass and produced by Tyler Clang. 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.479 Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.440 Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:02.880 weird topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com, 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.160 and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.839 I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:08.800 to your favorite shows.