Seastar Count Tally

Thank you to everyone who came out to count purple seastars (and eat seastar cookies) on Monday at Cedar Beach. Here are the final numbers (drum roll):

1,490 total purple stars Pisaster ochraceus of which only 14 showed wasting (0.012%)

21 mottled stars Evasterias troschelii and 11 leather stars Dermasterias imbricata.

This (purple star #) is an increase over the last count which is likely at least in part due to a larger group of participants, the use of flashlights and a somewhat lower tide. That said, it is almost certainly a lower number than the actual population because many specimens (particularly smaller juveniles) were simply not observable.

Andy Lamb and The ThINC team