Two Opposing Views of Star Fish from the West Coast and Australia

West Coast: Will they survive?

West Coast concerns about extinction
OPB's Earthfix reports on the starfish die-off having now reached the San Juan Islands, an area thought to be protected from the die-off. However, within a 2 week period the starfish on Orcas Island showing signs of the disease have risen from 10% to over 50% now. Expectations are within just a few weeks the entire population will be impacted, possibly eliminated.  Scientists are still unsure of what the cause is.

Australia: Wants them gone.

Crown-of-thorns sea star

Australia's intentional injection causes Vibrio bloom and death
While scientists along the West Coast try to determine what the cause may be, scientists in Australia are working in the opposite direction, intentionally eliminating starfish over concerns of their impact on the Great Barrier Reef. James Cook University has  discovered that through injecting a protein mixture into the starfish, Vibrio bacteria which naturally occurs within the starfish blooms and kills the starfish. Further, under the right conditions of temperature and salinity, the induced disease is able to spread through contact. A study published in 2013, entitled "Lethal doses of oxbile, peptones and thiosulfate-citrate-bile-sucrose agar (TCBS) for Acanthaster planci; exploring alternative population control options" further developed the idea.