▁Washington ▁and ▁southern ▁Canada ▁throughout ▁ 2 0 1 3 , ▁but ▁sea ▁star ▁was ting ▁disease ▁did ▁not ▁begin ▁affect ing ▁sea ▁stars ▁in ▁the ▁inter tid al ▁zone ▁in ▁Oregon ▁until ▁spring ▁ 2 0 1 4 . ▁The ▁relatively ▁high ▁resolution ▁of ▁understanding ▁of ▁the ▁pattern ▁of ▁disease ▁spread ▁came ▁from ▁marine ▁scient ists ▁working ▁along ▁the ▁coast , ▁but ▁also ▁from ▁citiz en ▁scient ists ▁visit ing ▁the ▁coast ▁and ▁upload ing ▁their ▁observations , ▁of ▁where ▁they ▁saw ▁sea ▁stars ▁both ▁with ▁and ▁without ▁disease ▁sympt oms , ▁to ▁an ▁online ▁sea ▁star ▁was ting ▁observation ▁log ▁database . ▁▁ ▁Because ▁scient ists ▁had ▁been ▁studying ▁sea ▁star ▁populations ▁before ▁the ▁out break ▁of ▁sea ▁star ▁was ting ▁disease , ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁good ▁understanding ▁of ▁how ▁the ▁disease ▁affected ▁population ▁sizes ▁and ▁dynamics . ▁A ▁study ▁of ▁the ▁och re ▁sea ▁star ▁( P is aster ▁och race us ) ▁populations ▁from ▁San ▁Diego , ▁California , ▁to ▁southern ▁British ▁Columbia , ▁along ▁with ▁at ▁two ▁locations ▁near ▁Sit ka , ▁Al aska , ▁found ▁that ▁population ▁decl ines ▁were ▁proportion ately ▁greater ▁for ▁sea ▁stars ▁in ▁the ▁southern ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁coast ▁than ▁the ▁north ; ▁however , ▁population ▁numbers ▁are ▁usually ▁higher ▁at ▁more ▁northern ▁locations , ▁so ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁sea ▁stars ▁that ▁died ▁from ▁was ting ▁disease ▁was ▁often ▁higher ▁at ▁more ▁northern ▁sites . ▁ ▁In ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 3 , ▁in ▁a ▁marine ▁labor atory ▁se aw ater ▁tank