Sunflower Sea Stars Now Critically Endangered

In 2013, sea stars impacted by a wasting syndrome began dissolving into gelatinous goop. Sunflower stars proved to be an especially vulnerable species. In seven years, an estimated 5.75 billion sunflower stars perished from Mexico to Alaska—a population decline of over 90 percent.

The decline was so precipitous that sunflower stars have now been officially listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature—a notion that was once unfathomable for such a common species.

Editor and Producer - Katrina Pyne
Producer - Josh Silberg
Videographer - Grant Callegari
Map Graphics - Mark Garrison
Pycnopodia Graphics - Josh Silberg
Satellite Images of Earth by Earthstar Geographics

[danbolton]

I had two in my crab pot today on Dungeness bay. I released them once I figured out how to get them out.

[UguysRnuts]

It's now up to 95% extinct and will only get worse. Nothing can stop the meltdowns in Japan which will continue to spew radionuclides into the Pacific for centuries to come. Long after humanity has been wiped out.

[leeeng]

Its probably all the pollution from China. China has most of the worlds manufacturing, batteries included they have zero emission controls and dump all there pollutants directly into the Pacific. The current moves North to Alaska and then down the west coast.