The mysterious death of millions of starfish along the West Coast of the United States has alarmed biologists, who are warning that the animals are key to the marine ecosystem.
Laura James, a diver and filmmaker from Seattle, recently described finding something that resembled “a scene from a horror film” under the surface off Washington state. “There were just bodies [of starfish] everywhere,” she told the PBS radio station.
Scientists first noticed the deaths last summer. Since then, reports have emerged from southern California to Alaska. One of the most striking findings came from scientists at Western Washington University, who