Posted on 11/10/2013 12:28:51 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Mysterious disease turning starfish to 'slime' on U.S. West Coast
Mon, Nov 4 2013
By Laila Kearney
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Scientists are struggling to find the trigger for a disease that appears to be ravaging starfish in record numbers along the U.S. West Coast, causing the sea creatures to lose their limbs and turn to slime in a matter of days.
Marine biologists and ecologists will launch an extensive survey this week along the coasts of California, Washington state and Oregon to determine the reach and source of the deadly syndrome, known as "star wasting disease."
"It's pretty spooky because we don't have any obvious culprit for the root cause even though we know it's likely caused by a pathogen," said Pete Raimondi, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz's Long Marine Lab.
Signs of sea star wasting syndrome typically begin with white lesions on the arms of the starfish that spread inward, causing the entire animal to disintegrate in less than a week, according to a report by the Pacific Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Think of a major disaster on the coast of Japan..
That was my first thought. Nuclear infected trash from Japan.
That was my thought.
starfish are the canary in the coal mine? radiation effects ?
could be,, or the underwater plumes in the pacific are spewing some toxic stuff too.. isn’t there a new Hawaii island being built as we post?
It probably did something to the plastic bags that are floating in the ocean. Now they can’t be consumed safely? Heck Norm, I have no idea what it is. Aliens, maybe or is the problem a result of flushing old prescription medicines down the toilet?
These days, who knows. Ever since Disney & nbc went gay, the world sucks. (Or sure seems to)
Thanks TigerLikesRooster for the ping.
Well put, nvscanman.
Thanks
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown...
Since we are taking about a problem on the Left Coast, I wouldn’t be surprised if the culprit turns out to be a microbe that causes a sexually transmitted disease in humans.
OMG - thanks to Alpha 1... and thanks for the link...
:’) You’re right!
My pleasure. Personally, I’ve always like sea stars.
probably radiation poisoning...WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!
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