After nearly being wiped out by disease, sunflower sea stars are starting to bounce back, but only on some parts of the BC coast.
A wasting disease caused mass mortalities among all species of sea stars starting in 2013, and lasting for several years. It affected species from Alaska to Mexico. Almost 90% of the sunflower sea stars, one of the largest types, died off.
However, divers recently discovered some populations are thriving in cold, deep water in fjords along the Central Coast. Scientists investigated, and found the healthiest populations are in cold waters, where salt levels are high.
The research, recently published by the Royal Society, concluded that BC’s fjords are providing refuge for sea star species from the effects of coast-wide disease. The paper says it’s unclear if the populations are healthy because of their environment, genetic adaptation, or something else, and suggests more research is needed to help protect and preserve the sea star population from future mass mortality events.
The scientists involved were from the Hakai Institute, UBC, the Central Coast Indigenous Research Alliance, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The paper is open access and available here.Â
