It’s always exciting to spot a sea star in the tide pools of the Oregon coast, but one recent discovery in particular has researchers especially thrilled.
Oregon Coast Aquarium staff recently discovered a group of 25 critically endangered sunflower sea stars in Yaquina Bay, the Newport aquarium said in a news release Thursday, giving hope for the species future in Oregon.
Like the more common ochre sea stars (which are related but have far fewer arms), the sunflower sea stars were decimated by a deadly wasting disease that spread across the Oregon coast between 2013 and 2017. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates 90% of the population fell to the disease, the aquarium said.
In Yaquina Bay, researchers found one adult and 24 juvenile sunflower stars, the largest measuring six inches across. Adults can grow up to four feet across with as many as 26 arms.
Sunflower sea stars are considered a keystone species, the aquarium said, helping keeping urchin populations in check and therefore preventing the destruction of kelp forests that act as nurseries for other marine life.
Oregon Coast Aquarium aquarist Tiffany Rudek, who was on the team measuring the stars, has spent years working on treatments for sea stars suffering from wasting disease. This discovery is just one part of the research she’s been conducting with other organizations.
“To come across not one, but twenty five sunflower stars?” Rudek said. “It’s incredible. It’s unprecedented. I am so excited about what this could mean for the species.”
— Jamie Hale
503-294-4077; jhale@oregonian.com; @HaleJamesB
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