Angela Jones grew up alongside starfish. She has fond memories of searching tide pools for sunflower stars, the largest species in the world. But now, they really are just memories.
The sunflower star, once common on the West Coast of the U.S., is nearly extinct. The culprit? Sea star wasting disease.
Over the 10 years, what scientists call the Decade of Death, it’s estimated that 5 billion sea stars on the West Coast have died from the disease, including about 90% of the sunflower star population. It’s the first sea star to be placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s critically endangered list.
Read more at Northeastern Global News
Photo by Alyssa Stone
