Dissolving starfish in the Puget Sound

[fisheater]

Rats.

Has it spread to any new species?

 

[deepblues44]

I wasn't shocked to read about the Starfish Dilemma, after seeing several dead Dungoness Crabs and some dead Jellyfish near the ferry landing on Anderson Island, just last week. For every live crab that we saw from the dock, we noticed at least one dead one. That definitely raised my eyebrows and made me wonder what's causing all this. I dove in Hood Canal, the San Juans, Puget Sound and other Washington waters a lot in the 60's and 70's and never saw anything like this. Was initially certified through the YMCA in the 60's. Just recently got back into warm-water diving and have been getting new certifications through PADI. Will be going after my Divemaster Certification next, hopefully. Scuba Diving is excellent therapy for these old aching bones.

---------- Post added July 21st, 2014 at 10:15 PM ----------

I will be contacting the Marine Biology folks at the U of W, and will soon have more information to share here.

 

[Peter_C]

For every live crab that we saw from the dock, we noticed at least one dead one.

When our crabs here molt and shed their shell, it appears like they are dying in droves. Could the crabs just be molting?