US EditionNorthwest Scientists Solve Decade-Long Mystery of Sea Star Wasting Disease
PACIFIC COAST OF NORTH AMERICA, AUG 7 – Researchers identified the bacterial cause of a sea star wasting disease that killed over 5 billion sea stars and devastated 90% of sunflower sea stars in five years.
- Scientists identified that a bacterial infection caused sea star wasting disease, which decimated more than 5 billion sea stars along the Pacific coast starting in 2013.
- The disease outbreak emerged after years of uncertainty, with initial hypotheses including viruses, but recent experiments confirmed bacteria in diseased sea stars' coelomic fluid as the cause.
- Researchers injected healthy sunflower sea stars with infected tissue slurries, causing lesions and limb loss, confirming Vibrio pectenicida as the pathogenic agent in this decade-long epidemic.
- The population of sunflower sea stars dropped by about 90%, which allowed sea urchin numbers to surge and consume nearly all of the kelp habitats along Northern California over a ten-year period.
- This finding opens up possibilities for supporting the recovery of sea stars and the revival of kelp forest ecosystems by investigating immunity, as well as exploring options like relocation or captive breeding to improve their chances of survival.
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Conservation news
ecotopical.comScientists identify the bacterium behind billions of sea star deaths
More than a decade ago, a mysterious illness killed billions of sea stars, particularly along the North American Pacific coast. The sea star wasting disease caused the stars to develop lesions, their arms to fall off and their bodies to disintegrate. Now, researchers in a recent study say they have zeroed in on the cause: […]
The Hamilton Spectator
Scientists solve decade-long mystery of Pacific sea star epidemic
The mystery behind a catastrophic disease that caused the massive die off of billions of sea stars along the West Coast and confounded scientists for more than a decade is solved.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
News & RecordScientists solve mystery of 5 billion dead starfish
WASHINGTON — Scientists say they have at last solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America in a decadelong epidemic.
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