A team featuring Canadian scientists has, after years of testing, determined the cause of the devastating sea star wasting disease. The culprit is a bacterial pathogen called vibrio pectenicida, and has brought sunflower sea star populations on North America’s west coast to critically endangered status.

The mystery behind a catastrophic disease that caused the massive die off of billions of sea stars along the West Coast and confounded scientists for more than a decade is solved.

A mysterious epidemic has wiped out billions of sea stars in recent years. A new study finally identifies the bacterium responsible.