![]() Elsewhere, the recipe of contributing factors remains a mystery. In some areas, warming ocean temperatures correlated with die-offs may be a contributing factor. It likely weakens sea stars’ immune systems, but since it was also found in sea star tissues collected as far back as 1942, SSaDV is probably not the whole cause of the current die-off. This month, new research has been published identifying a previously unknown virus, sea star associated densovirus (SSaDV), and linking it to diseased sea stars. Monitoring at Point Reyes sites including Santa Maria Creek and Bolinas Point has also revealed sea star declines and evidence of disease. June 2013 field notes for Slide Ranch indicate body parts and arms were gone suggesting disease symptoms. It is unclear whether the declines are due entirely to the wasting disease. Declines in ochre stars in particular have been documented by long-term rocky intertidal monitoring at Golden Gate National Recreation Area sites including Alcatraz Island, Point Bonita, and Slide Ranch. ![]() In San Francisco Bay Area parks, species with disease symptoms include ochre stars ( Pisaster ochraceus), sunflower stars ( Pycnopodia helianthoides), and bat stars ( Patiria miniata). Ochre sea star counts at Golden Gate rocky intertidal monitoring sites, 2006-2014. ![]()
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