Scientists Unlock Cause of Sea Star Die-Off

Many sea stars died on the Pacific coast. This happened over ten years because of a disease. Scientists now know what caused the sea stars to die.

Sea stars have arms, usually five. Some sea stars have many colors, like orange and purple.

The disease was very bad for sunflower sea stars. About 90% of them died in five years. The disease makes sea stars get spots and lose their arms.

Bacteria caused the disease, which also infects shellfish. The scientists found this in a study. It took a long time to find the cause of the disease, over ten years.

Now that scientists know the cause, they can help the sea stars. They can test sea stars and move healthy ones. Sea stars are important for the ocean because they eat sea urchins, which eat kelp forests.