Sea Stars in Trouble

Off the Pacific coast, sea stars are in trouble. A virus has emerged that is killing a vast amount of the population of twenty different types of sea stars. Researchers know that the disease has been around for seventy two years, but before past year, it was never a threat to sea stars as a species. Studying the environmental changes of species is nothing new for scientists, who use older data/evidence to come to conclusions on the changes of species due to the environment (i.e. Bald Eagles). Three theories that scientists have on the emergence of the disease are: overpopulation, environmental changes, and the mutation of the virus to become more widespread/ dangerous. The virus is spread by the ocean currents, and sediment, which carry the virus to new ecosystems and immediately creating an impact on the local ecology. One scientist stated, "10 million viruses in a drop of seawater, so discovering the virus associated with a marine disease can be like looking for a needle in a haystack" (Sciencedaily), this means that detecting the specific type of virus causing the problem can be difficult because of all the possible combinations of viruses. 


"Virus Devastating Sea Stars on Pacific Coast Identified." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.