Just when I thought I can put away the "Sea Star Wasting Syndrome Survey" headline,
I find first signs of the dreadful disease appear on Whidbey's most sea star populated site.
I don't know what the curling of juvenile Sunflower stars is all about, only the ones above 25 foot depth were doing it.
The ones on Tire reef look normal.
For years I am trying to share information about the marine life I encounter on my dives. Since I am not an expert by any means, I relay on outside sources to help me out. Unfortunately, sometimes I pass on a very wrong information which I received from what I thought are good sources since they should be smarter than me. And I don't mean Wikipedia. One example is the life span of Sunflower sea star, critter which I cover a lot because of the wasting disease surveys. If it wasn't for friendly hand by real expert, I would just pass on the wrong information, adding to the train of BS. Thank you Greg !
As an avid Jan Kocian fan, I won't let you sell yourself short. I find having you and Greg both on this website to be a marvelous gift. Science benefits from both academics and from disciplined observers such as you. The most respected scholars are wrong now and then, so keep it coming.
-Curt
Thank you Curt, I owe lot to Greg who helped me a lot more than once.
And also others who answer my e-mail inquiry, I do like to give credit whenever I can.
Now we have two sites on Whidbey with promising population of Pycnopodias.
After almost four months, I revisited Holmes Harbor and was pleasantly surprised to find multitudes of Sunflower stars there. Of course, most of them are still small, but their numbers are greater that they were before the wasting disease struck. Hopefully they will grow and multiply...