When Oregon Coast Aquarium staff discovered a sunflower sea star along the sandy floor of Yaquina Bay, their hearts soared; when they discovered twenty five, they immediately called their supervisor.
The group had taken to the bay in search of fish and invertebrates, which the Aquarium is permitted to acquire a limited number of each year.
The visually striking and once abundant sunflower sea star has now become a critically endangered species, their numbers decimated by an outbreak of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome (SSWS) that hit the Pacific Coast between 2013 and 2017. Though similar outbreaks had taken place over previous decades, none had impacted the species on such a massive scale—and never over such a relatively short period, leaving marine biologists with little time to respond. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates 90 percent of the sunflower star population fell to the mysterious disease.
Undeterred by the cold waters of Yaquina Bay, staff waded waist-deep to get a closer look. The sand-colored star measured just three inches across, its 12 arms working in concert, pulling its sinewy yet boneless body over the ocean floor with surprising speed. While this one was still small, when fully grown a sunflower star can reach up to four feet across and have as many as 26 arms.
Sunflower stars are a keystone species, native to the coastal waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Voracious predators, they play an important role keeping urchin populations in check, preventing the destruction of offshore kelp forests that serve as vital nursery habitat for marine life.
“We have to document this,” said Tiffany Rudek, who slowly submerged a bucket and gingerly placed the star inside. An Aquarist, Rudek spent the last several years developing an effective treatment for sea stars impacted by stress, injury, or disease—including those suffering with SSWS symptoms. She continues to refine the method, collaborating with marine life groups involved in sea star research efforts.
Moments later, another aquarist within arm’s reach of Rudek excitedly began pointing their neoprene-gloved finger at a second many-armed star just below the water’s surface. Before the group was finished, an additional twenty three sunflower stars were discovered moving within the sandy channel, each discovery being met with cheers. The largest of the stars measured six inches across, and while the aquarists agreed it may have been the adult that spawned the smaller juveniles, there’s no way to be certain. Regardless, this concentration of juvenile sunflower stars may be a precursor of the species’ recovery, though only time will tell.
After photographing and measuring the sunflower stars, each was carefully returned to the sandy seafloor.
“To come across not one, but twenty five sunflower stars?” said Rudek. “It’s incredible. It’s unprecedented. I am so excited about what this could mean for the species.”
The group enthusiastically continued with its excursion–and did so while treading a bit more lightly.
