"Scientists are scrambling to determine the cause of the 'wasting disease' that turns sea stars into goo before it strikes this young generation."

"Young starfish are staging a comeback in Oregon and Northern California, after a virus that melts the animal devastated adult populations along the northern West Coast starting in 2013.

Scientists are now scrambling to determine why the virus — found in sea stars as far back as 70 years ago —  has turned into an epidemic before the "wasting disease" attacks this new generation of purple sea stars, as it continues to kill the adults along the West Coast.  

Sea star recovery isn't a question of "will or won't [it] happen," but rather when and how long, Peter Raimondi, a University of California, Santa Cruz ecologist and evolutionary biologist, told PBS NewsHour. But the juvenile invertebrates could still develop the illness as adults."

Ben Rosen reports for the Christian Science Monitor May 8, 2016. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Cause Of Mass Starfish Die-Offs Is Still A Mystery" (Science News) [3]