A recent talk  by Dr. Jeff Marliave and Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium summarizes what we know so far about the mass die-off of starfish in our local waters. The exact cause is still unkown, but scientists all over North America are collaborating and exploring a realm of different hypotheses.

Another video by Neil McDaniel shows some more footage documenting this event.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/84262171]

The die-off has been observed from the north end of Vancouver Island down into the Washington Puget Sound area. The Vancouver aquarium is asking local divers to submit photos and observations of areas where they have seen sick or dying sea stars.

http://www.vanaqua.org/act/research/sea-stars