The first was predictably depressing: where the rocks had been encrusted with brightly-coloured sea stars last I saw it – 33 years ago – they now boasted not a one.
So when we arrived at the second, early next morning, expectations were low. But what was our delight to find, first one… then several… and finally hordes of Pisaster ochraceus, the purple shore star.
Signature starfish of the North Pacific, these are the first Pisaster I've seen in years. We all cheered loudly.
And they're adults, which suggests they're either bearing up against the plague or (more likely) haven't yet been exposed to it.
The disease was present, though. We didn't conduct a formal survey, of course, but we did find a single infected individual who was well on the way to dissolving into mush. Interestingly, that was also one of the few immature specimens we found on the beach that day. This is contrary to the usual pattern, but that's probably just a fluke.
Will Pisaster survive on this beach? Seems dubious. But we can hope.
In the meantime, it did my heart good just to see them again, after all these years.
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