Starfish Dying on Pacific Coast

Scientists are searching for clues to what’s been killing starfish up and down the West Coast. The mysterious die-offs were first noticed in Washington State.

That’s where KCTS Seattle has been partnering with the environmental public media project EarthFix to get to the bottom of the epidemic.

Reports have since surfaced from Southern California to as far north as Alaska. At first, only a certain species known as the sunflower star seemed to be affected. Then it hit another species, then another. In all, about a dozen species of sea stars are dying along the West Coast. It’s been coined sea star wasting syndrome, and it’s also been reported at sites along the East Coast.