The Stars Are Going Out

The West coast of the USA is experiencing another outbreak of a densovirus-associated starfish wasting disease that reduces victims to putrifying blobs of jelly sans arms (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/03/starfish-sea-star-deaths-west-coast). There have been outbreaks in the past but this seems to be a very patchy event, hitting local populations and leaving others alone for a while. The outbreak is thought to be linked to local warming of sea temperatures but some of the outbreaks are reportedly in the coolest locations. The disease also seems to be unrelated to pollution events. One thing is certain, namely that removal of these mollusc-eating predators presents a challenge to marine ecosystems.