Die-off of sealife in Vancouver

Vancouver Aquarium Blog: Area with ‘rivers’ of body parts from sea stars 

Strange behavior’ reported in sea otters

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ENENews,

9 October, 2013

Follow-up to: "Alarming" mass die-off of starfish in areas along Canada's Pacific coast -- "They've disintegrated, now there's just goo left" -- "Appeared to melt" -- "Single arms clinging to rock faces, tube feet still moving" -- Similar reports as far away as California (VIDEO)

Vancouver Aquarium’s AquaBlog, Oct. 4, 2013: Looking for Answers in Kyuquot Sound [...] Over the last month or so, we at the Vancouver Aquarium had been receiving reports that conditions in Kyuquot Sound, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, had been quite different this summer. This resulted in concerns that the sea otters were not as abundant as before and perhaps they were exhibiting some strange behaviour. [...] In Kyuquot Sound, we saw a number of sea otters, a little inquisitive of our presence, busy either grooming or diving for and eating clams. [...] We continued to explore the next morning and saw many sea otters that all appeared healthy. But the population is large and we barely scratched the surface. The trip was short and informative, but it raised more questions than answers. [...]

Vancouver Aquarium’s AquaBlog, Oct. 2, 2013: At the end of summer 2013, it became apparent that an epidemic had spread through the extremely overpopulated sunflower sea star populations in Vancouver Harbour and Howe Sound. They appear to have simply fallen ill; thousands have died and disintegrated in shallow water where their numbers are most dense. Diving biologists Neil McDaniel and Doug Swanston found sunflower sea stars collapsing around Defence Islands, up across from Porteau Cove. [...] Where the population density had been highest in summer of 2012, on the western shore of Hutt Island, all the sunflower sea stars are gone from that area, with rivers of ossicles (a hard body part) filling ledges and crevices (see video below). The entire diving community should be engaged to monitor the spread of this wasting syndrome, which may be limited to adjacent areas with extreme overpopulation, or it could continue to spread into areas with more typical abundance levels. [...] Whether this syndrome spreads up the Sunshine Coast or across to Vancouver Island or south into Puget Sound remains to be seen. [...]

Vancouver Aquarium’s AquaBlog, Sept. 12, 2013: Experts Convene at Aquarium to Discuss Tsunami Debris [...]  Last Tuesday evening, the public had the opportunity hear first-hand from experts regarding the state of tsunami debris in B.C. during a public program at the Vancouver Aquarium titled Japanese Debris: Why We See the Debris in B.C. [...] The discussion delved into ways that debris from the 2011 tsunami in Japan has been making its way to Canada’s western coast, the potential environmental effects of such debris, and action that is being taken to address the issue. [...] Thankfully, none of the debris has shown signs of radiation [...]