VIRUS BEHIND STARFISH DIE OFF? - BUT WHAT IS WEAKENING AND KILLING SO MUCH MARINE LIFE? - Could Fukushima nuclear waste being poured into the Pacific be behind the sudden rise in marine life die offs?

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• So-called Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWS) has been killing starfish since 2013.
• It makes these creatures melt.
• The still suspected virus was found in marine sediments, plankton, and sea urchins.
• The evidence pointing to that particular virus is strong, but not yet complete 
• That virus has been around for decades. So why is it so lethal now?
• Perhaps other environmental conditions have lead to the increased susceptibility of sea stars to disease.
• Many point to the ongoing contamination of the Pacific by the Fukushima nuclear plant.
• It's not just the starfish who are dying.
• The list of marine animal die offs is staggering (see related article further below on this page)
• Study shows that the California sea floor is 98% covered with dead creatures. It used to be only 1% before Fukushima.

Sea stars are lovely marine invertebrates with a round central body connected to multiple radiating legs.  In the past year millions of sea stars in the west coast waters of North America have melted into piles of slime and ossicles.

Sea star associated densovirus might be the cause of this lethal disease.  Sea star wasting disease (SSWD) is characterized by lesions, limb curling and deflation, and death as the animals rapidly degrade or ‘melt’.

The current outbreak began in June 2013 and has killed sea stars from Baja California, Mexico, to Southern Alaska. SSWD might be the biggest marine wildlife epizootic ever observed.

Evidence that SSWD is caused by a virus came from experiments in which extracts of diseased sea stars were passed through a filter with pore sizes small enough to allow passage of viruses but not bacteria or other microbes.

When injected into healthy sea stars, these filtrates induced sea star wasting disease.  

Field surveys revealed that the virus was more abundant in diseased than in healthy sea stars. The virus was found in marine sediments, plankton, and sea urchins.

The evidence that this virus causes sea star wasting disease is strong but not yet complete.

While the authors’ work reveals that sea star wasting disease virus has been present on the North American Pacific Coast for over 70 years, the disease is not always observed.

The current outbreak has been ongoing since just June 2013. Perhaps other environmental conditions have lead to the increased susceptibility of sea stars to disease. It is important to determine if a human activity is involved in precipitating the disease, so that we can prevent future loss of sea stars.

Read more
http://www.virology.ws/2014/11/17/a-virus-that-melts-sea-stars/

Photos - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish


WHY NOW?

Could the increase in nuclear waste pouring into the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear power plant have something to do with the increased weakness and much death of sea life?
 
Here are two articles with disturbing evidence that the Pacific Ocean marine life die offs coincide with the Fukushima ongoing spewing of tons of radioactive waste into the ocean.

 

Study: Dead sea creatures cover 98 percent of ocean floor off California coast; up from 1 percent before Fukushima

(NaturalNews) The Pacific Ocean appears to be dying, according to a new study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California recently discovered that the number of dead sea creatures blanketing the floor of the Pacific is higher than it has ever been in the 24 years that monitoring has taken place, a phenomenon that the data suggests is a direct consequence of nuclear fallout from Fukushima.

Read more
http://www.naturalnews.com/043380_fukushima_radiation_ocean_life.html

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Why are massive numbers of sea creatures dying along the west coast right now?

July 2014 - Massive numbers of sea stars, bluefin tuna, sardines, anchovies, herring, oysters, salmon, marine mammals and marine birds are dying, and experts are puzzled.  Aside from the starfish die off:

#2 The population of bluefin tuna in the Pacific Ocean has declined by 95 percent.  

#3 Sardine, anchovy and herring populations have dropped dramatically along the west coast#4 “Record numbers of distressed sea lions have washed ashore in California” for the second year in a row.  One news report described these distressed sea lions as “malnourished and dehydrated, too weak to find food on their own“.#5 Marine birds are “disappearing” in the Pacific northwest…

#6 Those that work in the seafood industry on the west coast are noticing some very “unusual” mutations.  For example, a red king crab that was recently caught in Alaska was colored bright blue.

#7 Pelicans along the California coastline are “refusing to mate“.  This is being blamed on a lack of fish for the pelicans to eat.  As a result, we are seeing less than one percent of the usual number of baby pelicans.

#8 The oyster population in the Pacific is falling so fast that it is being called “the great American oyster collapse“.

#9 The population of sockeye salmon along the coast of Alaska is at a “historic low“.

#10 Something is causing herring off the coast of British Columbia to bleed from their gills, bellies and eyeballs.

#11 Scientists have discovered very high levels of cesium-137 in plankton living in the waters of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the west coast.

#12 Back in May, more than six tons of anchovies died in Marina Del Ray over a single weekend.

#13 Just a few days ago, thousands of dead fish were found on Capitola Beach.  Authorities are trying to figure out what caused this.

#14 Earlier this month, thousands of dead fish were found on Manresa Beach.

#15 According to a study conducted by researchers at Oregon State University, radiation levels in tuna caught off the coast of Oregon approximately tripled in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Could it be possible that at least some of these deaths are related to what has been happening at Fukushima?  

We do know that fish caught just off the shore from Fukushima have been tested to have radioactive cesium that is up to 124 times above the level that is considered to be safe.

And we also know that a study conducted at the University of South Wales concluded that the main radioactive plume of water from Fukushima would reach our shores at some point during 2014.

Is it so unreasonable to think that the greatest nuclear disaster in human history could have something to do with the death of all of these sea creatures?

Just consider what one very experienced Australian boat captain discovered when he crossed the Pacific last year.  According to him, it felt as though “the ocean itself was dead“…

Read more
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-are-massive-numbers-of-sea-creatures-dying-along-the-west-coast-right-now

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