Hansen: Laguna Beach still missing its star attraction

The most iconic star in Laguna Beach is not a reality show celebrity. It’s Pisaster ochraceus, the purple sea star.

Unfortunately, the species is still largely wiped out along the West Coast because of a mysterious virus. In Southern California waters in particular, experts are counting the number of new starfish on one hand.

They get excited if they see more than a dozen.

“At Shaw’s Cove South, right at Fisherman’s Cove, there are 15 juvenile sea stars, all healthy,” said Letty Skeen, of the Laguna Ocean Foundation. “We counted them on Saturday. We were so elated. They’re all nestled in the mature mussel beds. Some of them aren’t any bigger than a small pancake or maybe a little larger than a silver dollar, but they’re there.”

The sea stars can be orange, yellow, reddish or brown, but right now scientists will take any color.

From Alaska to Mexico, entire sea star populations have been decimated. The scope is staggering. First reported in late 2013, scientists say the virus, identified as Sea Star Associated Densovirus (SSaDV), has killed millions of sea stars, impacting two dozen species.

Consider that in the beginning, about 40% of sea stars were infected, but by last summer, it was nearly 95%.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, given the range of the deadly impact and the number of species involved, this plague is the largest known marine wildlife disease in history.

Called a “wasting disease,” the slow death of an infected sea star is not pretty. It essentially melts into a goo, but not before losing limbs along the way.

And it doesn’t end with sea stars. New evidence has just surfaced that sea urchins are now dying off in a similar way.

“It has affected the urchins,” Skeen said. “Initially, we thought it was 40%, but it’s 50% of the urchins. We’ve seen a massive die-off of them, but they spawn pretty regularly, and females lay hundreds and hundreds of eggs, so they can make a pretty quick comeback.”

Different areas along the West Coast are experiencing different impacts, perhaps because of variations in water temperature. For example, Santa Cruz and parts of Oregon are starting to see larger numbers of new sea stars. But one thing is clear: Southern California is getting hit the hardest.

“We’re not getting any big rebound,” Skeen said. “It’s a slow process.”

The problem with this type of extensive die-off of multiple species is that it impacts the broader food chain. And in this case, the sea star is at the top of the tidal list.

Without the sea stars, urchins proliferate. That’s good for sea otters but as urchins increase they can start to feed off the kelp forests, which then impacts other creatures.

In other words, it’s one big sea village of checks and balances.

While scientists try to find a cure, the tidepools of Laguna Beach make do without their stars. So symbolic to the reefs, sea stars are the No. 1 requested attraction by tourists. Docents are ready to explain the situation but it’s sometimes hard to assuage visitors from all over the world who have never seen a starfish.

“We really miss them,” Skeen said. “People who are unaware of the disease are still looking for them. So we try to explain to them as much as possible.”

Skeen said the docents point out the good things still remaining.

“There’s a lot of beauty out here,” she said. “There’s still so much to see. When people come and they’re looking specifically for sea stars and they don’t see them, we try to divert them a little bit to all the things that are in the tidepools — maybe some things that are new.

“And there are two different kinds of fish that are new to our pools. We’re seeing young Garibaldis taking up residence, and you know how gorgeous they are, and then we have Zebra Perch in abundance. People are fascinated by them when they see them. And octopus, we’re seeing more octopus.”

But no starfish. Aside from the 15 at Shaw’s Cove, there is one at Crescent Bay, one at Wood’s Cove and a couple at Victoria Beach.

Maybe 20 total.

There have been other mass die-offs of sea stars in history but this one feels different. The fact is, it is different.

Like many environmental headlines in the news today, the font size is bigger, bolder and more real.

And unfortunately, the stars are just a little brighter.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.