Unraveling the Ocean’s Deadly Secret: What’s Causing Billions of Starfish to Dissolve into Goo?

Remember that puzzling moment back in 2013 when billions of starfish suddenly started turning into goo? Yep, that gooey mystery had scientists scratching their heads for over a decade — but hang on, the curtain just lifted on the culprit! Now, I don’t know about you, but the ocean has always struck me as this vast, spooky realm where only a handful of secrets have been revealed (NOAA says we’ve only explored about 5% of it — yikes!). With eerie things like a ‘woman’s voice’ echoing underwater or ‘faceless fish’ swimming around, it’s no wonder the gooey starfish saga sent chills down our spines. Fast forward 12 years, and it turns out this bizarre epidemic—affecting starfish all along the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska—was caused by a sneaky bacterium hiding in plain sight. The good news? Science is on it, zeroing in on “Vibrio pectenicida,” a microscopic menace that’s thrived quietly, but now might finally be tackled thanks to new breakthrough research. Could this be the beginning of a comeback for our spiky ocean buddies? Dive into the gooey details and the science behind the slime. LEARN MORE

In 2013, scientists were left perplexed when billions of starfish started to turn into goo, but now, there’s an answer behind the mystery.

The ocean can be a terrifying place if all those videos of people dropping their GoPros into the sea are anything to go by.

But what’s more scary than a mystery that hasn’t been solved?

According to NOAA, only 5 per cent of the ocean has been explored, so something like a ‘woman’s voice’ or a ‘faceless fish’ is bound to cause some concern.

And 12 years ago, starfish across the US were mysteriously turning into goo on the ocean floor, in an epidemic which remained a mystery – until now, that is.

What happened as billions of starfish turned into goo?

Billions of sea stars were wiped out (Luis Boza/VIEWpress via Getty Images)

The epidemic resulted in the mass death of several starfish species, with Associated Press reporting that more than 20 species were affected, even today.

It was so bad, in fact, that the sunflower sea star was placed on the critically endangered list, losing 90 per cent of its population in the first five years.

The outbreak was later named the sea star wasting disease (SSWD), which symptoms include abnormally twisted arms, white lesions, deflation of arms and body, arm loss, and body disintegration (via National Park Service).

Where did it happen?

The epidemic swept across the Pacific Coast of North America, resulting in billions of sea stars living between Mexico and Alaska meeting their demise.

In a matter of days, the dismantled bodies of sea stars were spotted on beaches across the Pacific Coast, as their very being was literally melted away by the mystery plague.

What did scientists find?

After 12 years of studying, scientists think they have an answer (Getty Stock)

While scientists were pretty confident that the culprit causing the epidemic was from the Vibrio species, which also causes cholera in humans, they had a harder time identifying exactly which species caused it.

After years of laboratory experiments and field sampling of tissue extracts from infected starfish, a new study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, was recently able to identify it as Vibrio pectenicida, a species with unusual characteristics that have allowed it to remain entirely undetected since the epidemic first struck.

And scientists reckon that things could get far worse with this pathogen present, as it is said to thrive in the warmer waters that have been brought about via climate change.

However, identifying the pathogen is a crucial first step towards the long-term goal of eliminating it from our oceans, allowing sea stars to thrive on the ocean floor.

The development of a diagnostic test to detect the pathogen’s genetic sequence is the researcher’s main priority, and co-author of the study, Melaine Prentice, from the Hakai Institute, also said that healthy sea stars could now be tested to see whether they need to be relocated, or bred in captivity in a conservation effort, before being added back into affected areas.