Starfish are dying at an alarming rate on West Coast, Washington all along the coast of California!

Ocean mystery: Disease kills millions of Starfish

Nightly News | November 29, 2013

"Top researchers go on a fact-finding mission to figure out why the millions of Starfish are dying at an alarming rate on the West Coast, including Washington and all along the coast of California."

www.nbcnews.com...

reply to post by MariaLida


A live starfish is a wonderful creature, and this news is some of the worse to get on a fine Sunday. Of course some will say it's the Japanese radiation, and if so, gulp and a loud RIP for the rest of the seas' bottom dwellers. With the oil spill in the U.S.'s gulf of Mexico, and now the radiation in the Pacific Ocean of all places, when is some reputable leader going to call for an emergency conference at the U.N. to do something, anything, to stop the destruction of the oceans (not to mention the forests of every country). Idiots run the planet, but there must be at least one idiot who is a touch smarter than the rest who cares about something other than the bottom-line profit margins.

Divers search for clues to an epidemic killing millions of starfish
14 hours ago

For months, marine biologist Pete Raimondi and his team have been diving in these waters, searching for clues to an epidemic called starfish wasting syndrome.

The mysterious disease has decimated starfish populations in the coastal waters and tide pools along the West Coast, from Alaska to Southern California. In some cases, 95 percent of the sea star population has been wiped out.

"Two months ago, these species that are missing now were plentiful," Raimondi said. "And over the last two months, they've disintegrated and they're basically missing from this location."

"Everything is on the table because we don't know what's causing it," Murray said.

"I've had probably 100 emails thus far saying, 'Well, what about Fukushima because of radiation?' Raimondi said. "We haven't ruled that out yet, but we're clearly not ruling that in."

dailynightly.nbcnews.com...

NBC Nightly News: “Another highly troubling report about what’s going on in the Pacific” — Millions of starfish ‘melt away’ from Alaska to California — Expert: Fukushima radiation ‘not ruled out’ as factor in epidemic — Very, very different than anything seen before (VIDEO)

December 1st, 2013 at 4:05 am ET

enenews.com... to-california-expert-fukushima-radiation-not-ruled-ou

Dead/Dying seastars in West Seattle (with opening footage to show same site last year)

vimeo.com...

CBS News: 100s of whales in bay on California coast; It’s never been like this, we just can’t even believe it — Experts: We just aren’t sure what’s going on; “A once-in-a-lifetime chance… unheard of, it’s unbelievable, nobody’s seen this” (VIDEO)
November 30th, 2013 at 4:22 pm ET

enenews.com... sure-whats-going-on-this-is-a-once-in-a-lifetime

Whale Expert near Vancouver: In 30 years I’ve never ever seen this kind of behavior, “They must sense this is a safe place to be” — Captain: I’ve never seen anything like it in 50 years on Pacific — “One even placed its head on the boat” (VIDEO)
November 30th, 2013 at 11:14 pm ET

enenews.com... s-working-pacific-they-must-sense-this-is-a-safe-place-to

MariaLida
CBS News: 100s of whales in bay on California coast; It’s never been like this, we just can’t even believe it — Experts: We just aren’t sure what’s going on; “A once-in-a-lifetime chance… unheard of, it’s unbelievable, nobody’s seen this” (VIDEO)
November 30th, 2013 at 4:22 pm ET

enenews.com... sure-whats-going-on-this-is-a-once-in-a-lifetime

Whale Expert near Vancouver: In 30 years I’ve never ever seen this kind of behavior, “They must sense this is a safe place to be” — Captain: I’ve never seen anything like it in 50 years on Pacific — “One even placed its head on the boat” (VIDEO)
November 30th, 2013 at 11:14 pm ET

enenews.com... s-working-pacific-they-must-sense-this-is-a-safe-place-to

From your link:

CBS News, Nov. 27, 2013: [It's] blowing away even avid whale watchers such as Karen Sheffer. “It’s never been like this” she said. “This is phenomenal.” [...] There are also dolphins and hundreds of sea lions. They are chasing an unexplained explosion of anchovies in the bay. Killer whales showed up to hunt the sea lions. “There’s easily over 100 to 200 whales in Monterey Bay,” said Nancy Black, a marine biologist and the captain of a whale watching boat. “So this is like, you know, so exceptional we just can’t even believe it.” [...] “So I’m just trying to tell the people how lucky they are to really witness this,” Black said. She knows this sea-life show will eventually end. For now, she says, just enjoy the view.

So why are the anchovies there?

It is happening on the East Coast as well and unlikely to be radiation from Fukushima. This is a known effect with starfish and other invertebrates (also being affected) but the cause isn't always known, where the starfish skin is damaged somehow and causes lesions and eventually limbs to fall off, generally they recover but that isn't the case this time and it's happening in extremely alarming numbers.

Some scientists at some universities aren't allowed to attribute bad things to climate change anymore but that is likely what this is... acidifying oceans harming their skin beyond regenerative capabilities, bacteria dividing faster in warmer waters and overwhelming immune response or parasites thriving in warmer waters.

Wirbel sorgen für starke Vermischung im Pazifik
06.07.2012

www.geomar.de...





Hidden gov’t forecast shows Fukushima contamination 5 years+

www.liveleak.com...




Atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from the Fukushima-Daichii nuclear power plant
CEREA, joint laboratory École des Ponts ParisTech and EdF R&D
Victor Winiarek, Marc Bocquet
Yelva Roustan, Camille Birman, Pierre Tran

cerea.enpc.fr...

reply to post by Aleister


A lot of animals died in the time of the dinosaurs. I guess they got wiped out by a comet or something. Then, animals eventually appeared in their place. They were different than the ones before them. These animals knew how to stop planet life from being annihilated by comets.

Now the world is faced with a new threat. Itself. How will it adapt?



How can it be that in an effort to adapt to challenges, the world created a challenge to itself? It's learning as it goes. I guess it didn't know it could create something too effective. Or maybe it didn't know that survival was ultimately an exercise in futility. Idk.

West Coast sea stars mysteriously dying off
October 31, 2013 : October 26, 2013

www.king5.com...

www.king5.com...

I notice someone can't resist the connection to Fukushima. That would be interesting, if radiation detection on the West Coast had any supporting basis whatsoever. It hasn't though..not yet anyway, if ever. So scratch that concept unless it's some new form that detectors cannot detect. Otherwise, that source should have made for an extremely short investigation if it had been there.

Hmm... Have we considered natural occurrence? Just a thought, and it's as likely or unlikely as anything else by the sound of it, but mass die offs are a part of nature and always have been. Hard to say what man made source would account for a wipe out of one specific life form across over 1,000 miles of coastline at once.

Odd things out there, to be sure. Odd things and odd happenings... Life is never boring.

))

Coral Reef Adventure FullHD 1080 **Watch in 3D**
Feb 3, 2013

Okay, lets take Japan out of it shall we?

Next we could say it could have been something from the comet Ison. We know it is in fact not only a dirty snowball, some rocks too! One could go back in time to see how comets effect things. There is a fear about comets doing just this, yet no clear facts, only it was in the sky at the time! Just starting at the Top of the list people, shall we work our way down?

Now we did have the Trash coming from Japan so it could have added something like waste; human that is,to the mix plus other things! Fuel, god only knows whats tossed in trash cans these days. next we shall add the Gulf Oil Spill. That in itself explains a possible cause since it is in the gulf, we know how that cleaned that up!

Where to go next, Sandy! Again more Trash into the Sea; somehow people think the Sea can take care of all that Trash and have no problems at all! Okay now, we can go to some others natural causes, New Islands being formed. That in itself has gone throughout this Planet past, we can say it would only have a small effect really.

Next on the list would be the oil we take from the Planet. I for one see it as the Blood Of Earth! It cools the Planet down from 2 sides, the core and the Sun! We use oil to do what? Fuel and keep things from breaking down in out eng's! Next on the list would be cem-trails; yet not fully knowing anything about this. I would say if it was being done it is masking something else!

Again, Pills! So much in fact being taken by people, it gets passed down into the water system over time; or curently being recly into fresh water now! Really now, you do not think its just gonna go away do you? Next on the list; add more to this list since I could have missed anything knowing I missed 80% anyways!

The air! Some citys the air is so bad you can not go Outside! What goes up, someday it will come down! I would hate to even think of what is Floating around really!

Anyone else Care To Share? Might as well do it ourselves and lend a helping hand out there in the Real World! The people working on this will read it anyway to get some answeres, clues at the most if anything! I Feel for the ones who have to spend all their living lives working on it themselves!

How much more can this Fragile Earth take? Loos it and we are done for! Money, Power, it would not matter unless you put into the Pot to Help!

Peace

Wrabbit2000
I notice someone can't resist the connection to Fukushima. That would be interesting, if radiation detection on the West Coast had any supporting basis whatsoever. It hasn't though..not yet anyway, if ever. So scratch that concept unless it's some new form that detectors cannot detect. Otherwise, that source should have made for an extremely short investigation if it had been there.

Hmm... Have we considered natural occurrence? Just a thought, and it's as likely or unlikely as anything else by the sound of it, but mass die offs are a part of nature and always have been. Hard to say what man made source would account for a wipe out of one specific life form across over 1,000 miles of coastline at once.

Odd things out there, to be sure. Odd things and odd happenings... Life is never boring.

Agreed. The Spanish Flu didn't wipe out any whales did it? I'm sure there is a reason for this and if it was Fukushima they would have detected radiation, like you stated. This looks species specific.

URI scientists leading effort to identify why starfish are dying

When University of Rhode Island graduate student Caitlin DelSesto collected starfish in Narragansett Bay for an undergraduate research project in 2011, she was surprised to watch as the animals appeared to melt and die in her tank within a week. After bringing it to the attention of URI Professor Marta Gomez-Chiarri, she learned it was among the first observations of a new disease that is now affecting starfish – also called sea stars – from New Jersey to Maine.

Thanks to a grant from the Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council, the URI researchers are collaborating with scientists at Brown University and Roger Williams University to try to identify the cause of the disease.

“There was a big increase in sea star numbers about three or four years ago,” said Gomez-Chiarri, “and often when you have a population explosion of any species you end up with a disease outbreak. When there’s not enough food for them all it causes stress, and the density of animals leads to increased disease transmission.

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome

Sea star wasting disease is a general description of a set of symptoms that are found in sea stars. Typically, lesions appear in the ectoderm followed by decay of tissue surrounding the lesions, which leads to eventual fragmentation of the body and death. A deflated appearance can precede other morphological signs of the disease. All of these symptoms are also associated with ordinary attributes of unhealthy stars and can arise when an individual is stranded too high in the intertidal zone (for example) and simply desiccates. “True” wasting disease will be present in individuals that are found in suitable habitat, often in the midst of other individuals that might also be affected. The progression of wasting disease can be rapid, leading to death within a few days, and its effects can be devastating on seastar populations.

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 1983-1984 and again (on a lesser scale) in 1997-98. Following the 1983-1984 event, the ochre star, Pisaster ochraceus, was virtually absent along southern California shorelines for years.

Seeing sea stars - and lots of them

While theories abound about why starfish populations appear to be spiking, scientists acknowledge it is largely a mystery. Radical population shifts occur naturally in scores of species, from lynx to lobster. Yet researchers are only now unraveling the complex relationships and influences that govern their cycles of abundance.

It's not clear how widespread the invasion is because so few scientists study starfish. News of the population uptick is coming via reports from divers, fishermen, and spring beachgoers. State divers in Buzzards Bay were startled two weeks ago to find vast carpets of starfish - each creature 4 to 5 inches across - stretching 100 yards along the sea floor. Some fishermen in Narragansett Bay are hauling up an increasing number of starfish. Workers dredging contaminated shellfish in upper Mount Hope Bay between Rhode Island and Massachusetts also are seeing more. And last week at Scusset, overjoyed children armed with nets and buckets scooped up dozens of smaller starfish to show parents and take home as mementos.

"It's really cyclical," said Terry O'Neil, a Massachusetts marine fisheries biologist who came across a giant pack of starfish on top of bay scallop beds in Buzzards Bay two weeks ago. "I've never seen so many starfish there before," he said, "but I have seen it in Cape Cod Bay - and the next year they are gone."

Global Sea Surface Temperature Trend 2001-2012
Data source


Data source

SST-Anomaly North Pacific Jan-Oct 2013

Pacific Ocean Heat Content During the Past 10,000 Years

Observed increases in ocean heat content (OHC) and temperature are robust indicators of global warming during the past several decades. We used high-resolution proxy records from sediment cores to extend these observations in the Pacific 10,000 years beyond the instrumental record. We show that water masses linked to North Pacific and Antarctic intermediate waters were warmer by 2.1 ± 0.4°C and 1.5 ± 0.4°C, respectively, during the middle Holocene Thermal Maximum than over the past century.

Both water masses were ~0.9°C warmer during the Medieval Warm period than during the Little Ice Age and ~0.65° warmer than in recent decades. Although documented changes in global surface temperatures during the Holocene and Common era are relatively small, the concomitant changes in OHC are large.

SUPPLEMTARY MATERIAL

reply to post by MariaLida


Forgive me - I've been trying to keep my head in the sand a little bit myself lately - and this isn't really what I wanted to focus on on a lovely Sunday afternoon. On the other hand - it's time to start looking at this thing square in the face I think

Deadly seawater bacteria deaths on the rise

Clues in coral bleaching mystery

It has been theorized that the major cause of bleaching is the result of chloroplast damage due to heat stress, which results in the production of toxic, highly reactive oxygen molecules during photosynthesis.

Invasive species, climate changes can wreak havoc on Great Lakes loon population

Warm weather sets the stage. According to the National Weather Service, March temperatures in areas like Negaunee, Iron River and Houghton in the Upper Peninsula, were an average of 20 degrees warmer in 2012, 49 degrees, than they were this year, which averaged 29 degrees. In Alpena, Rogers City, Pellston, Petoskey, Charlevoix and Traverse City in the upper Lower Peninsula, March temperatures were 15 degrees warmer in 2012, 42 degrees, than they were in 2013, which had an average of 27 degrees for the month. Those numbers mean the ice sheets on Lake Michigan melted much sooner than normal, removing the barrier that would otherwise block the sun’s rays and prevent algae from forming until much later.

Massive ecological disaster as keystone starfish species gruesomely die along West Coast

The culprit appears to be a bacteria that flourishes in warmer water. In Southern California, the putrefying bacteria last flourished in 1983-84 during an El Nino, a period of temporary ocean warming that occurs intermittently in the Pacific.

Warmer Oceans Make Fish Lazy, Global Warming Could Have ‘Major Impact’ On Reproduction

According to a 2012 study of global water temperatures, nearly 90 percent of the excess heat added to the Earth’s climate since the 1960s has gone straight into the oceans. Average surface temperatures have risen 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit, and increased water temperatures were recorded even at depths of 2,950 feet. Now, scientists studying the effects of warmer waters on fish populations have found that warmer oceans are making fish more lethargic, which is likely to affect their ability to catch food or reproduce.

Species moving already as climate heats; Lowcountry on a climate ‘cusp’?

Species after species is moving because the air, land and sea are warming. And the Lowcountry — the farthest north reach of sub-tropical climate on the East Coast — could see changes more quickly and more severe than other areas.

reply to post by MariaLida


I bet its because of the radiation heading this way from Japan.

Study finds giant strontium-90 release into body of water begins around 1,000 days after meltdown — Dec. 5, 2013 = thousand days after 3/11 — Graphic shows very high levels being discharged for up to 50,000 days

December 1st, 2013 at 9:14 pm ET

Associated Press: The turbine buildings at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant are about 150 meters (500 feet) from the ocean. According to a Japan Atomic Energy Agency document, the contaminated underground water is spreading toward the sea at a rate of about 4 meters (13 feet) a month. At that rate, “the water from that area is just about to reach the coast,” if it hasn’t already, said Atsunao Marui, an underground water expert

enenews.com... r-311-graphic-shows-very-high-levels-being-discharged-for-u

Kali74
It is happening on the East Coast as well and unlikely to be radiation from Fukushima. This is a known effect with starfish and other invertebrates (also being affected) but the cause isn't always known, where the starfish skin is damaged somehow and causes lesions and eventually limbs to fall off, generally they recover but that isn't the case this time and it's happening in extremely alarming numbers.

Some scientists at some universities aren't allowed to attribute bad things to climate change anymore but that is likely what this is... acidifying oceans harming their skin beyond regenerative capabilities, bacteria dividing faster in warmer waters and overwhelming immune response or parasites thriving in warmer waters.

Okay, so where is your scientific proof (research articles) to back up this "known effect". I don't know about this effect. Cite your documents where you came to this theory of yours.

By the way, my gut feeling is leaning towards Fukushima radiation leak....Anything that is happening to the ocean dwellers I will put the blame on the radiation and or pollution levels in our oceans.