By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | May 9, 2016 04:36pm ET
For the past two years, a
mysterious wasting disease has devastated starfish living along the West Coast,
turning countless individual animals into goo. But now, a record number of
surviving starfish babies is giving some researchers reason for cautious
optimism.
The Oregon coast currently has a
thriving community of juvenile starfish (or sea stars), with some places seeing
populations with as many as 300 times the typical number, researchers said.
That's welcome news, as up to 90 percent of sea stars in Oregon showed signs of
the deadly wasting disease from June to August 2014, reports a new study
published May 4 in the journal
PLOS ONE.
Starfish rising
The high starfish numbers don't
mean the deadly disease is gone, however, the researchers said. Another round
of the wasting illness could kill the juvenile sea stars, including the purple
ochre (Pisaster ochraceus), known as a
"keystone" species because of its influence on the marine ecosystem,
the researchers said
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