Deep Minus Tides July 9 - 16 and Warm Weather This Weekend

Update 7/10: Washington has recommended shellfish growers not harvest shellfish during the upcoming minus tides and warm temperatures. Presumably they also suggest recreational harvesting also not occur, or if so, precautions are taken to avoid contracting vibriosis. (see here for July 3 general safety suggestions)

(See end of post for tide table and weather forecast.)

Healthy starfish in south Puget Sound, 2013

Are starfish still dying off?

Deep minus tides begin on Wednesday with Saturday's -3.4 at noon being the lowest of July. Warm temperatures will make for a great weekend to get out and explore the lower intertidal area to see habitat and species submerged 90% of their lives. It will also be another opportunity to see whether starfish populations are continuing to decline from Sea Star Wasting Syndrome.

Same beach, 2014

Shellfish warning

The minus tides, coupled with unseasonably hot weather will increase the possibility of Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria in shellfish, especially oysters. The Department of Health does not recommend consumption of raw oysters during the summer months. Those harvesting shellfish for raw consumption should consider this warning from DOH shellfish safety website: 

Vibrio is destroyed by cooking shellfish to an internal temperature of 145° F for 15 seconds.

Eat only well-cooked shellfish, especially in summer months. Do not consider shellfish to be fully cooked when the shells just open; they need to cook longer to reach 145° F.

When harvesting:

• Just before you leave, check for closures due to vibrio, biotoxins, and pollution at our Shellfish Safety website, by contacting your local health department, or by calling our biotoxin hotline at 1-800-562-5632.
• Harvest shellfish as soon as possible with the receding tide.
• Don't harvest shellfish that have been exposed to the sun for more than one hour (less in really hot weather).
• Keep shellfish cold after harvesting.
• More shellfish safety tips 

Tide tables and forecast

Enjoy the weather, enjoy the low tide, and be safe.

Minus tides for the weekend of July 12 and 13

(Olympia times)

(from Dairiki.org)

8 day forecast for Shelton, WA

(from weather.com)

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.

Sea Star Wasting Syndrome Spreads to Puget Sound's Eld Inlet

Additional photos from Kim Merriman, taken June 14, show that Sea Star Wasting Syndrome has also spread into Eld Inlet. Ms. Merriman said no purple Ochre, what had been the most prevalent type, were seen. (Click here for a chart of the various Sea Stars of the Pacific Northwest.) To see additional information on Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, go to the Intertidal Monitoring site which includes descriptions and forms to help in reporting what you see.

Sunstar from Eld Inlet

Lesions where the legs meet the

body precede leg separation.

(June 14, 2014 - photo by Kim Merriman)

 

Sunstar with separated leg nearby.

(Eld Inlet)

(June 14, 2014 - photo by Kim Merriman)

 

Starfish (possibly mottled?) missing leg.

(Eld Inlet)

(June 14, 2014 - photo by Kim Merriman)