Research, Featured
Research, Featured
Research, Featured
Sea Star Wasting Caused by a Bacterium
For over ten years, we have watched sea stars dissolve before our eyes. Billions of these beautiful animals have passed away from a pandemic-level catastrophe sweeping across their population from Mexico to Alaska, known as sea star wasting disease. 20 different species were affected, with more than 90% of the sunflower sea star population disappearing since 2013, leading to the sunflower sea star being listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of critically endangered species.
The cause of the animals’ strange disease was unknown for many years until the results of a four-year study revealed a bacterium, Vibrio pectenicida, as the culprit.
The loss of these animals has drastically affected their ecosystems. Sunflower sea stars’ main food source, sea urchins, have gone unchecked for years, increasing in population and subsequently devouring their own food source, kelp. The loss of our kelp forests has a devastating effect on all the creatures that call it home, from crabs, juvenile salmon, rockfish, seals, and many other species. Kelp forests have transformed into sea urchin barrens, devoid of the once-productive and diverse ecosystems that our oceans rely on.
Hope for the future, now that the cause of sea star wasting disease has been identified, there will be further studies to find why it was so prolific. Once more is known about the bacterium, Vibrio pectenicida, efforts towards the recovery of sea stars can start in earnest.
Learn more about the research led by B.C. scientists and read the published paper in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
