Sunflower sea star nearly wiped out by virus in B.C., Washington waters: report
VANCOUVER — There was once a galaxy of sunflower sea stars in the Salish Sea off the British Columbia and Washington state coasts, but a new study says their near disappearance from the ocean floor should be of special concern.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, say a wasting disease that impacted many star fish from Alaska to Mexico was devastating for the sunflower sea star.
Joseph Gaydos, one of the report’s authors and the chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, said the sunflower that covered the ocean floor in many areas off southern Vancouver Island and Washington state has been virtually wiped out.
“We’re really concerned that one could completely disappear,” he said in an interview.