Scientists: Starfish Wasting Disease Outbreak Could Be Due To Fukushima Radiation

– Starfish Wasting Disease outbreak could be due to radiation (News1130, Dec 30, 2013):

Scientist says radiation from nuclear plant damaged by 2011 earthquake can’t be ruled out

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Researchers say nuclear pollution from the 2011 earthquake in Japan that damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant could be partially to blame for a disease wiping out starfish along the West Coast.

Dr. Peter Raimondi of the University of Santa Cruz says something is making starfish susceptible to whats believed to be a bacteria coined “Wasting Disease.” It essentially disintegrate the marine invertebrates into a white goo, after the starfish loses its legs.

He says what’s making sea stars unable to fight off the bacteria could be anything from warm water to toxins–but Raimondi also says scientists can’t rule out nuclear pollution, especially in light of the tsunami that followed the 2011 earthquake.

It washed large amounts of debris to our shores–and Raimondi says nuclear pollution could have come with that.

“One of the byproducts is obviously nuclear radiation discharge. The second thing is debris, tons of debris, which has shown up expecially on the North West Coast,” he adds.

Radiation or not, he says good work is being done to figure out what’s decimating the starfish population, and researchers should have a more definite idea of what’s going on in the next month to six weeks. Part of that is tracking the outbreak, and that’s where he says you can help.

Raimondi encourages anyone who’s seen signs of the disease–starfish without legs, or decomposing into a white goo–should report the sightings to the Starfish Wasting Disease tracker.

“This is a really neat opportunity for citizen science… It’s really been helpful [to get those citizen observations]… we’re trying to figure out if it’s a single point of initiation that spread, or multiple points of initiation because that will really be helpful in understanding what the delivery mechanism is,” says Raimondi.

The disease was first spotted in Washington State in June but has since spread all the way to Alaska and California.

Related info:

– LA Times: Experts suggest bald eagle deaths are related to Fukushima radiation – Idaho officials reporting similar sickness – ‘It’s hard to have your national bird in your arms, going through seizures’

– Unprecedented Decline In Alaska King Salmon

– Mystery Illness Killing Bald Eagles In Western U.S. – Wings Paralyzed, Full Blown Seizures

– Pelicans Starving In Pacific Northwest Since 2011, Killing Baby Birds For Food – ‘Sardine Crash’ Persists In Pacific Since Decline In 2011

– ‘Unprecedented Activity’ Near Canada’s West Coast: Whales In Record Numbers, Displaying Highly Unusual Behavior

– Marine Biologist: All Sea Stars Along West Coast Of North America Could Be Wiped Out

– Large Die-Off Of Alaska Seabirds From Disease Never Found Before In State History

– CNN: The Pacific Has Seen Its Fair Share Of Weird Recently – Bay In California ‘Now A Massive Soup Bowl’ – ‘Miles Of Anchovies, Mountains Deep’

– Study: Dead Sea Creatures Covered 98% Of Seafloor Last Year 150 Miles Off California Coast – Unprecedented!!!

– Weird Things’ Happening On California Coast: Unknown Toxic Algae Blooms Proliferating; Unprecedented Mass Of Oxygen-Poor Water – Mystery Strandings Of Large Squid Covered Miles And Experts Baffled … ‘Essentially Killing Themselves’

– San Francisco Chronicle: Fukushima Radiation Possible Culprit In Huge Starfish Die Off From Mexico To Alaska

– California: Threat Of ‘Dead Zone’ Developing Off Sonoma Coast

– Sea Star Die-Off Worse Than Thought; Now Over Entire West Coast; Going From One Species To Others

– Whale Expert Near Vancouver: In 30 Years I’ve Never Ever Seen This Kind Of Behavior, ‘They Must Sense This Is A Safe Place To Be’

– NBC Nightly News: “Another highly troubling report about what’s going on in the Pacific” — Millions of starfish ‘melt away’ from Alaska to California — Expert: Fukushima radiation ‘not ruled out’ as factor in epidemic — Very, very different than anything seen before

– CBS News: 100s Of Whales In Bay On California Coast – Experts: ‘A Once-In-A-Lifetime Chance … Unheard Of, It’s Unbelievable’

– Expansive ‘Death Zone’ Of Birds On Alaska Island, Perhaps Thousands Washed Ashore

– CBC News: Something Very Odd Is Happening In Pacific; Sea Creatures Acting Strangely

– Rarely Seen Sea Creature Normally Living At The Depths Of The Ocean Caught Off Miami Beach

– Unprecedented Concentration Of Sea Creatures Near Shore In California

– ‘Lots Of Sea Birds Washing Up Dead’ In Alaska (Photos)

– Alaska Island Shows Impacts From Fukushima – ‘Significant Cesium Isotope Signature’ Detected – Scientists Anticipate More Marine Life To Be Impacted As Ocean Plume Arrives

– Hundreds Of Sea Turtles Wash Up Dead On Pacific Coast – Dogs ‘Stopped Breathing And Died Almost Instantly’ When Eating Them

– Scientists ‘Especially Worried’: ‘We Don’t Know How The Pathogen Is Doing This’ – Sea Star Broke In Half, Walked Away, Then Turned To Goo

– Starfish Turn To ‘Slime’ Along Pacific Coast … ‘We’re Talking About A Loss Of Millions And Millions’

– Fishermen Boats Surrounded By Hundreds Of Dead (Nearly Extinct) Eastern Pacific Green Sea Turtles

– (UPDATED) ‘Extraordinary’ string of whale and dolphin encounters off Canada’s Pacific coast “could have a deeper meaning” — Indigenous Academic Adviser: “We see them as our relatives, as ancestors… It’s for the better of all of us to listen” (VIDEO)

– Sea Star ‘Ripping Itself Into Pieces’ – Like A Horror Movie – AP: Deaths From Alaska To S. California – Prof: ‘None Of Us Had Ever Seen Anything Like This Before’

– Sardine Population Plummets Along U.S. West Coast – ‘Canadian Pacific Fishermen Catch No Sardines In 2013? – AP: Collapse Of Species Feared

– West Coast Sea Stars Mysteriously Dying Off (KING 5 News Video): ‘Why Scientists Are So Concerned About The Rapidly Spreading Disease’

– Something Is Killing Life All Over The Pacific Ocean

– Head Researcher “Is Sounding The Alarm’ Over Dramatic Changes In Pacific Northwest Killer Whales

– 28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima