Many species of sea stars off of the Oregon coast have been dying due to a recent disease outbreak. ODFW scientists are helping to monitor sea stars in rocky intertidal and subtidal areas starting this summer. On July 2nd, a team from ODFW’s Marine Reserves Program went out to Otter Rock Marine Reserve and completed surveys on the density and disease severity of sea stars in the area. The same surveys were completed at Cascade Head Marine Reserve on July 6th. This effort will help to monitor the long term effects on sea star species and to understand the distribution of the disease along the Oregon coast. Visit our Blog to learn more.

Sea Grant Summer Scholar Abby Fatland and Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Scholar Sara Reese are getting up to speed with learning the marine critters commonly found in Oregon’s Marine Reserves.  Abby and Sara learned valuable tips on how to identify rockfishes, sculpins and greenlings from Doug Batson, the Assistant Dive Safety Officer at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and a lead diver on the marine reserve SCUBA survey team.  Once the interns have mastered their species identification they will be working the Ecological Monitoring Team to analyze mini-lander video data, assist with the SMURF larval fish sampling, and conduct sea star wasting surveys in the intertidal habitats.  We are thrilled to have these two bright, young scientists joining the Ecological Monitoring Team for the summer.