A team of researchers based at universities and institutes along North America’s Pacific coast1 recently released a paper2 looking at the a wasting disease that is affecting the sea star populations along the Pacific North American coastline. The paper examined the conditions which may have led to the outbreak of this disease, and the impact it is having on the coastline populations of several sea star species.
Christopher Harley
Dr. Christopher Harley, a professor in UBC’s Department of Zoology and the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, who is one of the authors on this study, to discuss the impact on the British Columbia coastline, as well as the virus that may be causing the disease, and the ecological effects we will see on the extended Pacific Northwest coast.
And as it is Star Wars Day today (May 4, 2018), the interview was packaged accordingly (Sea stars, Star Wars, get it? Okay, bit of a stretch but it does work).
Thus we present to you our Sea Stars Trilogy!
Sea Stars
Sea Stars II: The Virus Strikes
Sea Stars III: The Return of the Coastline
1 University of California, Santa Cruz; University of California, Los Angeles; California State University, Fullerton; Western Washington University, Bellingham; University of British Columbia; University of California, Santa Barbara; Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; California State Polytechnic University; Olympic National Park; Channel Islands National Park; and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
2 C. Melissa Miner, Jennifer L. Burnaford, Richard F. Ambrose, Liam Antrim, Heath Bohlmann, Carol A. Blanchette, John M. Engle, Steven C. Fradkin, Rani Gaddam, Christopher D. G. Harley, Benjamin G. Miner, Steven N. Murray, Jayson R. Smith, Stephen G. Whitaker, Peter T. Raimondi (2018) Large-scale impacts of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) on intertidal sea stars and implications for recovery. PLOS ONE March 20, 2018 doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192870
Tags: Biodiversity, British Columbia, Christopher Harley, Climate change, Coastline, Conservation, Faculty, Marine ecosystems, sea stars