There is a new threat to sea stars called ‘sea star wasting
syndrome’, which is responsible for mass killings of these important keystone
species. In November 2013, the disease killed up to 95 percent of the sea star populations from Alaska to Orange County.Little
is known about the origins of the syndrome, or even what causes it. Scientists are trying to determine the cause
of this lethal disease before time runs out.
Typically,
a sea
star infected with the syndrome will have lesions that appear in the
ectoderm followed by decay of tissue surrounding the lesions, which leads to
eventual fragmentation of the body and death (see picture above). A deflated
appearance can precede other morphological signs of the disease. “True”
wasting disease will be
present in individuals that are found in suitable habitat, often in the
midst of other individuals that are affected. The progression of wasting
disease can be rapid, leading to death within a few
days, and its effects can be devastating on sea star populations.
“They
essentially melt in front of you,” said
Pete Raimondi, chairman of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology at UC Santa Cruz's Long Marine Lab. The University
of California Santa Cruz is currently mapping all events along the West
Coast, and people are encouraged to report
these sea star wasting events to them.
They classify the syndrome into four categories, with 1 being mild, and
4 being severe. Pictures and
descriptions for the severity of the syndrome can be found here.
At
first, the disease only infected one species, Pycnopodia helianthoides, also known as the sunflower star. Then the disease began to affect a more common
sea star species, Pisaster ochraceus
(Robert Paine’s keystone species). Now,
there are about 12-15
species that are dying along the West Coast from sea star wasting syndrome. And wild sea stars are not the only ones in danger--
in September
2013, sea stars in an aquarium at the Gulf of the Farallones National
Marine Sanctuary visitor center at the San Francisco Presidio contracted the
syndrome in water pumped from the ocean.
Eels, sculpin and anemones that were in the same aquarium were unaffected.
The probable
cause of the disease on the west coast of the US is caused by a pathological
agent, such as bacterium (vibrio), although a recent wasting event on the east
coast of the US has been attributed to a virus. Sea star wasting events have also occurred
from British Columbia down to the Gulf of California, the Mediterranean and the
North Atlantic coast of North America, but not in the Southern Hemisphere. Some researchers have suggested that Fukushima
could be a cause, but the sea stars are being affected on the east coast, so
this is not likely. The ultimate
cause is not clear although such events are often associated with warmer
than typical water temperatures as was the case for the major die off in
southern California in 1983-84 and again in 1997-98. Sea stars are susceptible to bacterial
infection, and warmer water boosts bacteria growth, Raimondi
said.
If the cause for sea star wasting syndrome is not uncovered,
ecosystem balance can be disrupted with the disappearance of sea stars. As we have learned in class, removing Pisaster ochraceus from tide pools
causes unchecked population growth of mussels and other organisms. Also, with global climate change,
temperatures will rise in the ocean, which could have significant
or even profound effects on populations. Hopefully the cause of sea star wasting
syndrome can be solved before it is too late.
While many people were emptying their wallets to go to the tropics and escape the harsh winter in Ohio, I went to Oregon to join Cassie after her grad school interview and to visit my uncle. While I was there, I decided to start collecting organisms for my BIO 215 project. The first stop was to Newport, Oregon. Being the wet season (rainy with high 40's and 50's) not very many people were there except the locals and fishermen. Newport is especially known for its history in fishing and their (to die for) seafood.
The touristy part of Newport is around the Yaquina Bay Bridge. This is one of the most iconic bridges in Oregon. The photo above is a better shot of the bridge in the later part of the morning. It usually is foggy or hazy around this time of year due to the heavy rain. Yaquina Bay is also were I started my collection for BIO 215.
I actually first started my collection when I saw these fishing "pots" or traps. I do not know exactly what you call them but I found quite a lot of on them. Don't worry, I did not steel any of the catch, just the by-products.
Here we have some acorn barnacles. I am certain these are Balanus amphitrite. I do not know much about them yet as I am still looking into it. I do know that these are a great nuisance to fishermen just like white-tailed deer are to us. Balanus amphitrite can damage pots, weigh them down, and actually cause them to float away in rare cases. Still though, how often do you see barnacles fresh out of the Pacific?
Recognize what's above? Blue mussels right? Rest assured they are but they are a little deceiving at first because they partly lack the blue shell we have seen in lab. Here is a better photo of what I found. When I started to go through what I collected back in Kettering, I was stumped as to what kind of mussels I had collected. There is a phenomenon called the Mytilus edulis complex. I learned of this trying to ID parts of my collection. It is basically were all the Mytilus species are interbreeding. However, after comparing freshly caught mussels with some sources, I confirmed they were in fact Mytilus edulis. Weather Johnson and Geller used PCR to ID their mussels to get around the Mytilus complex is unclear, but I can see why PCR is readily used in identifying mussels.
You know at Sea-World or the zoo you can only get so close to the animals? Well check this out!
"Be sure to get my good side."
I am not sure what the sea-lion is doing in the bottom photo, but it is kind of funny.
I have never been this close to sea-lions (Zalophus californianus). I have never seen them in the wild either. They look cute when they are pups, but not so cute grown old, huh? I hear in the news often that Zalophus californianus can be a nuisance animal. They can pile on private water craft, crowd docks, and do some damage to beaches. I am not sure what the reason is behind these floating docks. It could be management, or maybe tourism, but it was still great to see these guys up close. I believe Cassie and I were about 20 or so feet from them. Cassie also noticed a familiar organism under one of the docks. Think you know what it is?
If you guessed Robert Paine's keystone species Pisaster you are right! I almost missed this guy under the dock. My lens make his actual size a little distorted. It almost looks like his left arm is bigger than the rest of him. Thinking about it now, maybe there were some mussels under the dock and it was having is afternoon meal. Either way, got to see Pisaster!
I have to put this in here because I do not see this at all in Ohio as far as I know. Oregon State University (OSU) has their very own research vessel! OSU specializes in marine science, veterinary, pharmacy and toxicology.
Lets move onto my favorite thing about Newport. Think you know what it is by this photo?
If you can make out the symbol on the side of the right ship, it is docked at the brand new (2011) NOAA station in Newport, OR. This is a spin off from their Seattle station. I encourage you to check out those links. Not only are interesting and fun to read, they give a little deeper picture of what NOAA does. Here is the entry sign to their newest facility on the other side of the bridge. We could not go in because of 9/11 security. The fact that we got this close though was still awesome!
Below is a photo of the other ships. The NOAA sign above is about 15 feet to my left. Can you find the McArthur II?
There was a small sandy beach within walking distance from the NOAA entrance. I was able to collect some specimens there too. We found shells similar to a surf-clam but much smaller. It turned out to be a fine-lined lucine or Paravalucina tenuiscupta. You may be able to see a photo of it at the end of this post. It is small but it is there. The most amazing shell I found was a Batillaria cumingi shell. It had the iconic moon snail drill hole in it too! To think I almost missed this one because it was partly covered with sand! I took this photo when I was sorting everything.
Our last stop in Newport was a man made rocky shore. For being man-made, it was still cool to see. Cassie and I had lots of fun climbing on the rocks while we looked for more stuff to collect. Sadly, we found mostly shell fragments that don't make things easy to ID. Cassie did find one creepy looking sea-plant though.
Here are some more pics of the man-made rocky coast.
I am not sure what was on these rocks. The bottom one looks like a mix of algae and the other almost looks like a fossil.
Next stop was Lincoln City, Oregon. Almost all of Oregon's beaches are open to the public. If private beach owners open their beach to the public, the state will reduce their property taxes a good deal. Sometime private beach owners will only pay taxes on the house and not the beach itself! There was no indication this was a private beach. But check out what I first noticed (other than the lovely views).
Kind of makes you think right? What are your thoughts? It seems forever ago this happened and we are still dealing with it.
Lets just get back to the scenery shall we? Check out this coastal community. I also found lots of shells here. Big ones too. I hope this video works right. It does not look as good when I post it to the blog format.
I am not sure what that flowing river/pond like opening is on the beach. We think it is more of a tide pool and it is is receding back into the ocean. The western gulls (Larus occidentals) were spending the most time around it. If the video does not work well, here are some photos of the flowing river/pond.
What I thought were blue mussels again actually turned out to be the even bigger California mussels (Mytilus californianus). Some of the shells I collected were over four inches long. My largest shell I collected was almost eight inches. You will see at the end of this post my overall collection. The last photo from our coast trip shows how rocky the Lincoln City Beach is.
Below you will find some pictures of sea-grasses we collected on the Lincoln City Beach. We briefly touched on sea-grasses recently in lecture. The first two are Zostera, or the "blade-like" grass. The next one is the "whip-like" grass Phyllospadix, or surf grass.
So to end this post, here is my overall collection from my week in Oregon (and some panoramic views).
The top photo is what I collected in Newport and the bottom is what I collected in Lincoln City. See what I mean when I said the California mussel was really big?
