Wednesday, February 10, 2016

SEA STAR WASTING DISEASE SUMMARY OF MY OBSERVATIONS

SUMMARY OF SURVEY DATA COLLECTED BY ME IN WEST SEATTLE CONCERNING SSWD.


SEA STAR WASTING DISEASE SURVEY

LEO SHAW 2011-2016

CONSTELLATION MARINE RESERVE – ENTIRE PARK

2011 August  -2’ tide:   609 Pisaster ochraceus    prior to SSWD

2012 Dec  -2’ tide         498   Pisaster ochraceus   prior to SSWD

2013 Dec 5  -2’ tide:   398 Pisaster ochraceus   1 with SSWD  8 Mottled Stars and 12 small Sunflower Stars all healthy.

2014 March 23       0’ tide:   104 Pisaster ochraceus   3 with SSWD

2014 April 3   0’ tide:        107 Pisaster ochraceus    2 with SSWD

2014 June    -2’ tide:         218  Pisaster ochraceus    Est 30-40% with SSWD

2014 Nov 7     -2’ tide:        28 Pisaster ochraceus    16 with SSWD

2015 April          -1.7’ tide:   46 Pisaster ochraceus    5 with SSWD

2015 June 3       -2’ tide:        78 Pisaster ochraceus     19 with SSWD

SOUTH ALKI SOUTH SIDE OF BREAKWATER SOUTH OF CONSTELLATION MARINE RESERVE      ENTIRE BREAKWATER EXPOSED

2014  Nov 7                        6 Pisaster ochraceus      1 with SSWD

2015 May 5                        38 Pisaster ochraceus     0 with SSWD

2015 May 17                      93 Pisaster ochraceus      1 with SSWD

2015 June 2                        95 Pisaster ochraceus      0 with SSWD

2015 August 28                  32 Pisaster ochraceus      11 with SSWD

2015 October 27                21 Pisaster ochraceus        0 with SSWD

2015 Nov. 24                       12 Pisaster ochraceus       0 with SSWD

2016 Jan. 10                     13 Pisaster ochraceus  2 with SSWD

2016 Feb. 8                         12  Pisaster ochraceus  0 with SSWD

2016 April 9                       27 Pisaster ochraceus  2 with SSWD

2016 May   6            26 Pisaster ochraceus 0 with SSWD

2016 May   22         34 Pisaster ochraceus  0 with SSWD





UNDER CONDOS SOUTH OF CONSTELLATION MARINE RESERVE ON PILINGS

2014 Nov 7                           22 Pisaster ochraceus     10 with SSWD

2016 Feb 8                            12 Pisaster ochraceus     1 with SSWD  1 Sunflower Star healthy.      Tide was -1.5’ so not all of pilings were exposed or viewable.


NOTE:  Sea stars observed at Constellation, and the Breakwater were often only partially visible due to location on rocks and partial coverage by other sea stars.

A healthy star was one that no sign of SSWD could be seen on the exposed part of the sea star.

15 large (appearently healthy) Purple stars were seen attached to the Seacrest West Seattle Water Taxi floating dock on 2-15-16.  These stars are always submerged and avoid direct sunlight and drying faced by stars exposed on a low tide on the beach.  This makes these stars vertually subtidal rather than intertidal individuals.  This is a refuge from heat, direct sunlight and high temperatures that intertial stars face especially during summer low tides midday.  The large size indicates that these individuals on the float likely are survivers that escaped SSWD due to habitat conditions.








3 comments:

  1. Thanks for compiling this, Buzz! I was going to do an informal update on SSWD on my fb blog. May I reference this data?

    ReplyDelete
  2. You may use anything on the blog for non profit educational use. please give credit

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely. You can find my (very new) fb page by searching for "Corvid and Cockle".

    ReplyDelete