5 Billion Starfish Dead and Melting: Bizarre Ocean Plague Traced to Killer Vibrio Bacteria

Sunflower sea stars affected by sea star wasting disease begin to disintegrate along the coast of Calvert Island in British Columbia, a region hit hard by the decade-long marine epidemic. (Credit: Hakai Institure)

For more than ten years, the Pacific Ocean has played host to a chilling marine mystery. Arms twist violently, limbs tear away and crawl independently, lesions form, and organs spill out. Eventually, the starfish melts into a shapeless puddle.

Now, scientists believe they have finally uncovered the cause behind the death of more than five billion sea stars in what is considered the largest marine epidemic ever observed in the wild.