00:00Starfish are beautiful and elegant creatures that are one of our ocean's prized animals.
00:07But now, many species are simply turning to dust before our very eyes,
00:11and scientists finally think they know why.
00:13According to new research published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology,
00:17there are bacteria in the oceans that thrive in warmer waters.
00:20The bacteria live extremely close to the skin of starfish but kill without touching them.
00:25Instead, the bacteria suck up and deplete the oxygen all around the sea stars,
00:29causing decaying tissue and limb loss, more or less turning them into goo.
00:33It's called sea star wasting disease,
00:35and it's responsible for the death of large numbers of the creatures over the years.
00:39And what's worse?
00:40Dying starfish give off more organic matter, which spurs more bacterial growth,
00:45something experts say is, quote,
00:46a new kind of idea for disease transmission,
00:49and a problem that will likely get worse as the planet gets warmer and the oceans continue to heat up.
