Tag Archives: Wasting disease

Sea stars impacted by wasting disease spotted in chilly Alaska waters

A mysterious disease that causes sea stars to form lesions, lose arms, and eventually completely disintegrate was recently spotted en masse in the Gulf of Alaska. Konar said the location is part of the reason this mass die-off — which is believed to have started near Monterrey, Calif, and now stretches from Baja California to here — seems more troubling than similar past occurrences. The cause of wasting disease is still unknown, with a group of scientists,,, Read the rest here  08:29

Fallen stars: Wasting disease spreading along West Coast, including Humboldt County tide pools

Local starfish appear to be dying of a disease spreading along the West Coast that causes the invertebrates to lose their arms — and in the most advanced cases disintegrate. “It’s potentially important because sea stars are an important predator in the intertidal, and they consume mussels, and mussels are really good at occupying a lot of space and pushing other things out. The wasting disease was first noticed on the West Coast in June. more@advocatenews 16:01