Experiments suggest that most sea stars now harbor a virus or bacterium that is making them sick. Although most stars may now be infected, we are trying to understand why they die in higher numbers at some locations than others.
We will use the citizen science data to identify whether there is a temperature threshold or some other environmental conditions associated with outbreak and non-outbreak sites. The most valuable data for us is to know what percentage of stars are sick and dead at particular sites and to verify your diagnosis of 'sick' with a photo.