Ode to the ‘Pode

When I was a kid my family didn’t take me to Disneyland or Hawaii. No, we trekked into the depths of the Alaskan wilderness. The last great frontier is full of unusual and mysterious things, but nothing captured my imagination like the pycnopodias. At up to a meter long they are the largest starfish on Earth!

In southern Alaska it rains most of the year, the all encompassing darkness taking its toll on residents. Thankfully there is a golden stretch through July and August where the weather is negotiable and one can catch extremely low tides. Hundreds of pycnopodias sprawled along the beach in magical shades of orange, purple, and red.

Ode to the ‘Pode - Hand dyed merino wool with Kapok stuffing - 2024

I photographed my pycnopodia plushies on a car to show scale and create juxtaposition.

I thought of adding a detailed explanation of how a star pillow is born but I’ll save that for another plushie-related post. I want to focus on the subject at hand and this is why:

Pycnopodias are victim to the largest marine epidemic ever recorded, killing billions.

Warming oceans and a mysterious starfish pandemic have decimated their population. They are functionally extinct in California now.

When you see a whole species literally disintegrating in front of your eyes, one you love so much, it is particularly maddening- as if all the beauty in the fringes of the world is being plucked away and no one notices because there are more pressing atrocities right in front of our eyes.

A healthy Pode on the left vs one with Starfish wasting disease- A grisly fate. They dissolve into a white goo, whilst still alive.

I believe mind shifts, green technology, and community efforts will prevent us from complete global warming related annihilation. The Pycnopodia’s importance as a keystone predator and reclassification as an endangered species has prompted global efforts to breed them in captivity. This might restore populations in the north.

I am still looking for a way to use these sculptures to benefit the cause. I want to bring attention to these magnificent, friend shaped squishes. I mean look at them! *Edit: see Pode’ Update in my posts!

‘Podes don’t deserve the hand they were dealt. I made the graphic below because they seem like a fitting symbol for the importance of biodiversity, the many arms representing branches of life. Their centroids glowing like the sun.

Appreciate what you have before it’s gone, and go touch grass.

*All nature pics from my iStock images trial or phone camera.