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6/8/14




For more than 40 years, a mys­terious disease has been appearing intermittently in populations of sea stars — also called starfish — caus­ing massive die-offs and then disap­pearing again, sometimes for years at a time. Known as “sea star wast­ing syndrome,” the disease con­tinues to stump researchers, who have yet to identify a definite cause despite decades of research. Pro­gressing from white lesions that ap­pear on the limbs of affected indi­viduals, the disease causes sea stars to disintegrate and waste away over the course of a week or less, their bodies sometimes physically tear­ing apart. The mortality rate is es­timated to be around 95 percent.



Outbreaks of the illness have appeared sporadically since the 1970s, affecting both coasts of North America as well as the Medi­terranean. It was observed in June 2013 in about 20 percent of the Humboldt County sea star popu­lation, but appears to have grown significantly worse since then.



“We’re seeing upwards of an 80 percent decline,” said Jana Hen­nessy, a graduate student in pro­fessor Sean Craig’s marine ecology lab at Humboldt State University. She has been working on sea star syndrome since last summer, and said the numbers have changed drastically. 


“We haven’t analyzed the data yet, but based on our observations (near Trinidad) there has been a significant decline in the past year, most notably within the last five or six months,” Hennessy said. “A year ago we were counting 160 stars, and a week ago we counted 20, so it’s been pretty devastating. Of the 20 that we saw, about half of them had obvious signs of the syndrome. ... I think we’re pretty close at this point to an extinction event.”

Joe Tyburczy, a marine ecologist with California Sea Grant Extension, said he’d heard anecdotal reports of similar figures from other researchers along the coast.

“In talking with other folks, including a collaborator at Smith River Rancheria who works near Pyramid Point in the new Marine Protected Area … they’re seeing a marked decrease in the abundance of sea stars up there as well. … We’re doing research and getting some baseline data, but our baseline is only capturing numbers after a pretty noticeable decrease,” Tyburczy said.

Oregon was one of the only areas on the West Coast that had remained relatively free of the disease up to this point, but a recent outbreak there has “created an epidemic of historic magnitude” that “threatens to decimate Oregon’s entire population of purple ochre sea stars,” according to a report by Oregon State University science writer David Stauth.

“This is an unprecedented event,” said Bruce Menge, professor of marine biology at OSU. “We’ve never seen anything of this magnitude before. We have no clue what’s causing this epidemic, how severe the damage might be or how long that damage might last. It’s very serious. Some of the sea stars most heavily affected are keystone predators that influence the whole diversity of life in the intertidal zone.”

Their role as “keystone predators” of these intertidal habitats means that as the sea stars die off, whole ecosystems will be disrupted, leading to unpredictable changes for countless other species.

“In a healthy ecosystem, sea stars are beautiful, but also tenacious and important parts of the marine ecosystem. In particular, they attack mussels and keep their populations under control,” Stauth wrote in his article about the Oregon outbreak. “Absent enough sea stars, mussel populations can explode, covering up algae and other small invertebrates. Some affected sea stars also eat sea urchins. This could lead to increased numbers of sea urchins that can overgraze kelp and sea grass beds, reducing habitat for other fish that use such areas for food and refuge.”

Possible causes

Bacteria, viruses, toxins and pollution have all been suggested as possible culprits for the syndrome, but the disease is so widespread that scientists suspect more than one factor could be at work. According to a report from Humboldt State University (http://tinyurl. com/lqtats3), research being done in British Columbia suggests that warmer temperatures may be connected to the rate and severity of infections, though the link is not conclusive.

“Previous outbreaks on the west coast include the 1983 die-off in Southern California that almost completely eliminated Pisaster ochraceus (purple/ochre sea stars) from tidal pools. A smaller scale die-off occurred in 1997 that scientists hypothesized may have been catalyzed by warm waters from El Niño currents; sea stars prefer cooler waters. Warm temperatures have been shown to negatively impact sea star health and can lead to infected wounds,” wrote Jonathan Sleeman, director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center, in a December report on the syndrome.

“The (recent) outbreak appears more severe than previous outbreaks, killing up to 95 percent of some populations and affecting a much larger geographic area along the west coast. Scientists are compiling mortality reports from the public, monitoring designated sites along the Pacific coast, collecting specimens for diagnostic necropsy, and conducting diagnostic microbiology and genetic sequencing to determine if infectious or toxic agents are involved.”

Marine biologist Kathryn McDonald and a team of six students at HSU’s Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad have been studying the problem since September 2013 to see how changes in the environment affect incidence of the disease.

“We’d like to determine whether what we are seeing is truly a contagious epidemic, or something that many sea stars already have — a common infection — that becomes lethal under certain conditions of temperature change or other stress,” McDonald said in the HSU report. “The syndrome is widespread up and down the coast. … There might be more than one disease agent that animals are coping with.”

Though little is known for certain at this point, researchers continue to look for answers.

“There are a lot of people involved in this, and a lot of concern ... so this is being incorporated into a very large, ongoing survey up and down the coast,” said Hennessy.

For more information, including maps of outbreak locations and ongoing monitoring information, visit http://seastarwasting.org.

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6/4/14

Construction is well underway on a $1 million project to install an eco-groovy storm drain system in the seaside village.

The project is resulting in temporary road closures, detours and one-way traffic with flaggers on the city’s main drag – Trinity Street – as well as Ocean Avenue and West Street.

The construction comes just as the city and its businesses brace for the start of the tourist season. While some may lament the timing, there’s a good reason construction is scheduled for the summer – it’s the only time such a project can be done.

City engineer Steve Allen of GHD explained that the removal of the existing drainage system and installation of the new one can only happen during the dry season.

The project is intended to cleanse the city’s stormwater runoff and keep pollution out of Trinidad Bay, which has been deemed an Area of Special Biological Significance by the state. That designation helped  the city obtain a Prop. 84 grant from the state to pay for the drainage improvements.

Trinidad’s stormwater now flows unimpeded through pipes and ditches, empyting into the bay at the boat ramp near Trinidad Pier.

The project involves installation of new underground drain pipes on Trinity Street from Trinidad School to an area just short of West Avenue, along Ocean Avenue and West Avenue.

Large underground infiltration chambers will be located on Trinity Street in front of the school, on Ocean Avenue and on West Avenue. The chambers contain a series of pipes which hold the stormwater and allow it to soak into the ground.

Along Ocean Avenue, “bioswales” will be installed on the side of the road. The swales are designed to allow water to flow through vegetation, then soak into the ground. The gently sloping swales double as parking spaces.

Construction is expected to be completed by mid-October. Other portions of Trinidad’s drainage system may be improved in the future when funding becomes available.

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Inaugural event this summer to raise money for Northcoast Marine Mammal Center

5/29/14

An open-water swimmer has found a way to connect her pas­sion for swimming and commu­nity outreach by creating the Hum­boldt Bay Critter Crawl — a 4.5­mile open water swim from Coast Guard Station Humboldt Bay to Woodley Island Marina on July 13.

“We’re looking for swimmers that are experienced in open wa­ter swimming, because tempera­tures can hover around 50 to 60 de­grees on average and can change throughout the swim,” said event organizer Sarah Green. “I think it’s appropriate that our inau­gural swim is to help benefit the Northcoast Marine Mammal Cen­ter and the elephant seal pups be­cause they inhabit the waters we swim in. There are a lot of things that make this timely in support­ing the center.”

Green said the Humboldt Bay Harbor District will provide a boat to help with traffic in the water, and a kayaker will be alongside every swimmer to make sure there are no problems and give them food or fluids during the swim.

“The biggest risks to swim­mers in the bay environment are motorized boats and hypother­mia,” Green said. “People don’t think about getting dehydrated in the water, but you do. This is a cur­rent- assisted swim, so we are an­ticipating that the swim will take most swimmers one to two hours to complete depending on their swim speed, water temperature, and the strength of the current on that day.”

Green started a Facebook page called “Humboldt Bay Critter Crawl” last week, and there are al­ready three swimmers so far.

“If people want to participate, they can contact me through the Facebook page or at the Healing Spirit Wellness Center, mainly be­cause I want to talk to them and get an idea of their experience.”

Other ways to participate in­clude donating, either from indi­viduals or businesses, or just com­ing out on the day of the event. All donations will go directly to the Northcoast Marine Mammal Cen­ter, she said.

Green and her partner, Bill, have been swimming in the bay for the past few years but realize that not a lot of people swim in it. So, she thought the Critter Crawl would not only bring attention to the help the center, but also encourage peo­ple to swim in the bay.

“It’s something that’s becoming more popular,” Green said. “I re­alize the colder water isn’t for everyone, but it’s a great resource we have (and) open water swimming is a great way to stay healthy.”

For more info, visit http://www.humboldtbaycrittercrawl.com/

Like the Critter Crawl on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/humoldtbaycrittercrawl

Click HERE to donate to the Critter Crawl

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National study seeks to prepare West Coast for future disasters

5/25/14

A group of Humboldt State University researchers and graduate students aided in the discovery of the first tactile evidence of a historic tsunami at Half Moon Bay as part of a national study aimed at increasing the state's understanding and defenses against the aqueous natural disaster.

HSU Geology Department research associate and principal investigator Eileen Hemphill-Haley, along with research associate Harvey Kelsey and a team of students, took part in the study that searched for traces of past tsunamis in the sediment at 20 coastal sites stretching from Crescent City to the Tijuana River.

Hemphill-Haley said the sites were chosen based off a computer model created by the study's other contributors: the U.S. Geological Survey's Science Application for Risk Reduction team, the California Geological Survey, the California Governor's Office of Emergency Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"We started by looking at the results of the modeling to see that if there was a large earthquake in the Aleutian Islands, where would high water heights be along the California coast," she said. "If you look along the whole coast, it didn't have a consistent water height level, which is based on the consistency of the shore. We focused in on the places where the model said had the highest water levels."

Of the sites examined, only two yielded any evidence, which Hemphill-Haley said is indicative of the mixed composition of the coastline.

"If the tsunami came and hit a rocky coastline, over time you wouldn't find the evidence of it," she said. "We looked for areas where there would be low lying wetlands and marshes along the coast. You need the right type of depositional setting to preserve a tsunami deposit on our coast. We just didn't find a smoking gun anywhere else."

In the northern portion of Half Moon Bay, the research crew discovered the first evidence of the 1946 tsunami that killed one person walking on the beach and wrecked fishing boats. The tsunami resulted from a magnitude 8.1 earthquake on the Aleutian Islands that occurred on April 1, 1946, killing 159 people and caused $26 million in property damage in Hilo, Hawaii, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

As to how they could tell the sediment was from that particular tsunami, the researchers used a variety of techniques including carbon dating, researching historic records and reconnaissance work.

HSU Geology Department graduate student Casey Loofbourrow was one the students who participated in the field studies.

"We'd go around and poke holes in the ground with this device, which goes down 2 meters," he said. "Then, we'd clean off the core and describe the sedimentary layers. When we find a good core, we package it up, and we do all kinds of stuff to it."

The sediment's location was also an indicator of potential tsunami debris.

"The type of material a tsunami would pick up is the same stuff a big storm would," she said. "What happens with a tsunami is that sediment would be transported farther inland. You look for more of a single, sheet-like deposit that you can trace a continuous distance inland. You have to have a very big tsunami to have it go that far."

For the Half Moon Bay event, Hemphill-Haley said the deposit they found stretched back about 1,000 feet.

"That place has been hit by a lot of storms, but you don't see a lot of those that far back," she said.

The researchers also found further evidence of the deadly 1964 Crescent City tsunami that killed over a dozen people. With a limited record of state tsunamis stretching back to the late 1700s, Hemphill-Haley said new data on distance sourced tsunamis — originating from far-away earthquakes — is necessary.

"The goal was to really get more baseline data to improve our understanding of tsunami hazards for the entire state and the types of earthquakes that could create these hazards," Hemphill-Haley said. "If there is a tsunami big enough to leave traces of a tsunami there before, you can think that same thing can happen again. The computer modeling can show what might be possible and whether there is a pattern of tsunamis at certain areas of the coast. All these bits of information start filling in some blank spots we didn't know before."

National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist Troy Nicolini said that knowing where a tsunami are likely to hit based on where its earthquake originates gives coastal communities a better understanding of what they will be dealing with before the waves reach the shore.

"We don't want to evacuate a significantly large part of the population for every distance sourced earthquake," he said. "If we can increase our knowledge of how the earthquake in the Aleutians will impact us, we can help emergency managers do so for any given scenario. For quakes along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, we worry about taking action immediately. From far away, we have much more time — about four hours for Aleutian Island quakes."

Nicolini said the data gathered from this study is exactly what is needed to "refine" emergency responses along the state's coast.

The full study can be viewed online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1170/

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