Wildlife

Deadly starfish disease explodes on Oregon coast

As scientists continue to puzzle over the cause of a devastating starfish disease, the outbreak this month spread rapidly north along the coast of Oregon, where ocean experts are now expecting a widespread die-off with some local extinctions of starfish possible.

Sea star wasting syndrome is a traumatic process in which, over the course of a week or less, the sea stars begin to lose legs, disintegrate, ultimately die and rot. They sometimes physically tear their bodies apart. Various epidemics of the syndrome have been observed in the past, but none of this extent or severity, according to information released by Oregon State University.

The spread into Oregon is part of an epidemic of historic magnitude, one that threatens to decimate the entire population of purple ochre sea stars, according to OSU marine biologists.