Monday, June 17, 2019-- Oregon State University researchers, along with several scientists from UC Santa Cruz lab, and local volunteers assisting them in the field went out very early to do specific sea star and mussel bed surveys at Walk-On-Beach. A large area of exposed reef is divided into transects. This is the 2nd year of a 3-year survey to provide the scientists with data trends.

This survey is in specific response to the sea star wasting disease that has impacted the ecosystem of our coast. Recent precipitous declines in the population of several species of sea stars have led to a dramatic increase in numbers of purple sea urchins, a common prey species of sea stars. The population explosion of urchins has, in turn, scrubbed the rocky nearshore reefs and coves of nearly all plant life. This ecological community so important to our North Coast is being counted and tracked. The survey will help answer the question of whether or not the star populations are recovering and if that is changing the urchin population levels longer term.