![Divers have documented the first cases of sea star wasting syndrom in Oregon. Image courtesy of Courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Seastarwasting2-1024x575.jpg)
Divers
have documented the first cases of sea star wasting syndrome in Oregon.
Divers with the Oregon Coast Aquarium made the discovery during a survey on April 27 that revealed 48 dead and dying sea stars in a 60-square-meter area in Yaquina Bay on Oregon’s central coast. The symptoms of wasting syndrome were seen in sunflower stars, ochre stars and giant pink stars.
Divers from the The Oregon Coast Aquarium documented some of the afflicted sea stars of off Oregon’s central coast.
Sea stars infected with the disease physically deteriorate before they die. In some cases, afflicted arms break off
from the sea star’s body and walk away before dissolving completely.
Scientists suspect a bacteria or virus is causing it, but they don’t
know for sure. Until April, there had only been a few cases reported in
Oregon.![Click for interactive map from data.piscoweb.org.](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/interactive-300x293.jpg)
Aquarium divers are planning additional surveys this month.
![One of the afflicted sea star arms documented on a recent dive off the central Oregon coast. Image courtesy of Oregon Coast Aquarium](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/SeaStarWasting-1024x575.jpg)
One
of the afflicted sea star arms documented on a recent dive off the
central Oregon coast.
Kristen Milligan, program coordinator for PISCO, said the problem documented off the Oregon coast goes beyond symptoms that appear in sea stars from stressful environments.
“The current outbreak along the West Coast is ‘true’ wasting disease, meaning that sea stars have these extreme symptoms while in suitable ‘healthy’ habitat,” she said.
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