Sea star wasting devastates Pacific Coast species
Sea stars off the Pacific Coast are dying en masse at an “unprecedented” rate and geographic spread, and Cornell researchers are trying to find out why.
The sea star wasting syndrome was first discovered last June off the coast of Washington state. Within months, it had spread from Alaska to Mexico. It causes sea stars to become deflated and weak, lose limbs and develop lesions that eat through their entire bodies.
“The geographic extent is vastly larger than we’ve seen before. But the unique and chilling aspect of this event is the number of species involved,” said Drew Harvell, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, who seeks to understand the nature and extent of the sea star mortality.
“There have been wasting disease events with sea stars before, but it’s normally a single star species. This has involved up to 12 different species — virtually all of the major species have been affected along the entire West Coast.”
Scientists are not clear what’s causing the sea stars to die, but Ian Hewson, assistant professor of microbiology and one of the world’s few experts in viruses among organisms like sea stars, was awarded a rapid-response grant from the National Science Foundation last October when the extent of the sea star die-off became apparent.
