Once-abundant sea stars imperiled by disease along West Coast

An overview of a scientific paper published in January 2019, documenting a precipitous decline in Sunflower Sea Star, primarily linked to the devastating sea star wasting disease epidemic that was wide-spread along the US and Canadian west coast starting in 2013, as well as warming ocean temperatures. The study used almost 11,000 REEF Volunteer Fish Survey Project surveys collected between California and Alaska between 2006 and 2017 to evaluate the massive decline.