EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A beach ranger’s discovery of hundreds of dead starfish along Haceta Beach has confused shellfish biologists who can’t determine why the starfish died in such numbers in just one place.
The Register-Guard reports the starfish die-off was discovered Thursday morning.
Justin Ainsworth of the Department of Fish and Wildlife says the starfish may have been killed by recent stormy waters, but the storms hit most of the coast, and the dead starfish were only found on Haceta Beach.
Ainsworth says the starfish may also have been killed by disease or low oxygen levels in the water, but haven’t yet found evidence of that.
After studying several of the starfish, Ainsworth says they died recently but didn’t appear to suffer injuries.
