More than a decade ago, a “mysterious illness” hit the sunflower sea star population. The disease, known as sea star wasting syndrome, decimated 95% of the creature’s population in 2013, leading to ...

Scientists have finally unravelled the decade-long mystery behind the devastating epidemic that has killed more than five billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America. The breakthrough ...

Purple sea urchins, beware: There’s a purple urchin-eating predator on the horizon — and its name is the sunflower sea star. That’s the plot line coming from a small upstart research facility in Moss ...

For the last decade, California’s offshore seafloors have been missing a massive, colorful predator that keeps kelp-munching sea urchins in check. The sunflower sea star is a big starfish — more than ...

Visitors to Haystack Rock are urged not to touch wildlife. CANNON BEACH — Mylasia Miklas was exploring the tide pools around Haystack Rock last month when she spotted what looked like a baby octopus.

Over the past decade, the sunflower sea star has gone from a mighty predator of the Pacific Ocean floor to nearing extinction. The Nature Conservancy estimates that 5.75 billion sunflower sea stars ...

Melissa Torres from Birch Aquarium looks on as Ashley Kidd from Sunflower Star Laboratory prepares the sperm dilution to fertilize the eggs. Photo from Birch Aquarium at Scripps / Jordann Tomasek More ...

For the last decade, California’s offshore seafloors have been missing a massive, colorful predator that keeps kelp-munching sea urchins in check. The sunflower sea star is a big starfish — more than ...