Starfish killer found in Palm Beach County's Lake Worth Lagoon by University of Florida
Sea stars, also known as starfish, lay in pieces in the murk, arms twisted, white with sores, bodies deflating, disintegrating, vaporizing into the substrate with a shadow of powdery black imprints left behind.
At first, the University of Florida researcher thought it was only a few sickened nine-armed sea stars in an area dubbed Lake Worth Cove at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park.
But there were dozens, up to 75, with varying degrees of symptoms from what would be determined to be sea star wasting disease, or sea star wasting syndrome.
More: Boat restrictions possible near Peanut Island as dredging begins in Lake Worth Lagoon
It's believed to be the first documented case of the sea star killer in Florida's coastal waters according to researchers at UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, which published a study this year in the journal Southeastern Naturalist. Romer, who is a quantitative ecologist with UF's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, was the lead author.
'I had a pretty good idea it was sea star wasting disease,' Romer said. 'They live in the substrate, but they were all out because they were suffering.'
Millions of sea star deaths between 2013 and 2015 along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Alaska to Mexico are blamed on the disease. First thought to be a virus, new evidence points to a syndrome, or group of symptoms that occur together, including a bacterial growth that may be caused by environmental factors such as warmer water temperatures, changes in salinity levels and pollutants.
Romer, who said he recognized the disease from learning about it in an advanced placement environmental science class, went back the day after his initial snorkel trip to take photos and collect samples. He gave those to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which then returned them to UF for study.
Sea surface temperatures in the Lake Worth Lagoon where the sick sea stars were found were more than 1.8 degrees above average at the time of the event, according to UF. Unusually low tides and stormwater runoff were also observed.
'When nine-armed sea stars forage, they churn the sand for worms and shellfish,' Romer said. 'If their numbers drop, that sediment-mixing slows, giving algae a chance to overgrow meadows. Thinner seagrass means fewer nursery spots for young sportfish.'
More: Seagrass is making an epic comeback in the Lake Worth Lagoon - why that's so critical
Deborah Drum, director of Palm Beach County's Environmental Resources Management Department, or ERM, said none of her marine scientists have seen signs of sea star wasting disease in the Lake Worth Lagoon and believes what Romer stumbled on was a very localized event.
In the past few months, Drum said environmental resource employees have found healthy nine-armed sea stars throughout the northern reaches of the lagoon and in the Munyon Cove area near where Romer was snorkeling.
'As to what can be done (about the disease), it's what ERM strives to do through habitat enhancement and restoration within the Lake Worth Lagoon with the creation of oyster reefs and seagrass and mangrove habitat,' Drum said.
The lagoon, once a freshwater lake, became a brackish estuary with the dredging of the Boynton Beach and Lake Worth inlets. Hardening of its sandy coastline with sea walls, as well as regular deluges of stormwater runoff and occasional dumps of Lake Okeechobee water has coated areas of the lagoon in life-choking muck. Palm Beach County has spent millions of dollars to restore the lagoon, including by building islands for mangrove habitats, shorebirds, oyster reefs and sea grass.
Romer said he hopes people will report seeing anything unusual in the wild to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC (3922) or record what they see on community science platforms such as iNaturalist.
'This isn't my area of expertise, it's not something that I was researching or looking for, but any member of the public can be involved in conservation in the same way I was here,' he said.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: University of Florida finds starfish disease in Palm Beach County
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