Sea stars along much of the North American Pacific coast experienced a massive die-off in 2013/14 due to a mysterious wasting syndrome. Sea stars are dying off at dramatic rates across the West Coast from Baja California in Mexico to Alaska. Sea star wasting disease is caused by a virus For nearly a year and a half, sea stars – in particular, those of the class Asteroidea have been suffering from mass die-offs. When was sea star wasting disease first noticed? Sea star wasting disease explained. It's been three years since millions of sea stars from Alaska to Canada and down to Baja, Mexico started wasting away into gooey white mounds. After an outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) hit sea star populations along North America’s west coast in 2013, 81% of the sea star population in California died. The first reports of sea star wasting disease were from June 2013 in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. The syndrome is a general description of symptoms found in affected sea stars. By the end of October, virtually all the SUNFLOWER STARS were dead. There are around 40 different species of sea stars that have been affected by this disease. So they've shifted their efforts to monitoring sea star populations and investigating why this disease—probably caused by a very common ocean virus—is now … This sea star shows signs of complete tissue deterioration, the most severe category of sea star wasting syndrome, and is likely dead or dying. Sea star wasting disease is caused by a virus For nearly a year and a half, sea stars – in particular, those of the class Asteroidea have been suffering from mass die-offs. Following this idea, Kohl’s team collected a small group of Pisaster ochraceus sea stars (seventeen individuals) from two sites in July, 2014. Last year, we wrote a post about the Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, a disease that was causing mass mortality of sea stars along the Pacific Coast from Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska. Sea stars inhabiting the Northeast Pacific Coast have recently experienced an extensive outbreak of wasting disease, leading to their degradation and disappearance from many coastal areas. If you know the answer to this question, please register to join our limited beta program and start the conversation right now! This unprecedented phenomenon, known as sea star wasting disease (SSWD), ultimately affected more than … Sea stars play a vital ecological role as top level predators shaping nearshore ecosystems. Formerly known as starfish, the creatures are being wiped out on a wide scale by a wasting disease. This information is just as valuable as observations of diseased individuals. Dubbed SEA STAR WASTING DISEASE (SSWD), this phenomenon quickly spread through the entire SUNFLOWER STAR population, killing an estimated tens of thousands in Howe Sound alone. Over the next two years, as geographically diverse populations continued to crash, scientists coined the term sea star wasting disease (SSWD) to refer to the unexplained forces that were causing the devastation. Sea Star Wasting Syndrome Observation Log. Sea star wasting disease or starfish wasting syndrome is a disease of starfish and several other echinoderms that appears sporadically, causing mass mortality of those affected.