Mike Sato, my East Sound compatriot reporting on issues there in his blog, Salish Sea Communications, went to a lecture by Dr. Ben Miner, who is researching the starfish wasting disease.
(Bellingham) Those of us who might have wanted Dr. Ben Miner of Western Washington University to identify the mysterious disease that is killing starfish along the Pacific West Coast would have left his talk last Tuesday sadly unsatisfied after an hour or so. Real life and death isn’t like an hour’s episode of CSI. As with all good, rigorous science, establishing what isn’t the cause is as important as hypothesizing what might be the cause.
Mike mentions in his reporting that the disease could be either bacterial or viral, then quotes the Dr. as saying that they have protected starfish with antibiotics. If that’s true, then it’s not a virus, which would not respond to antibiotics. Just to be clear.
Read the rest of the story:
http://salishseacommunications.blogspot.com/2014/04/watching-starfish-waste-away.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Dr. Ben Miner, Puget Sound, starfish, starfish wasting disease |
