The first sightings of the phenomenon came from the mouths of rivers, the Sheepscot and the Damariscotta, then from Monhegan, Two Bush Reef, Criehaven and Wooden Ball Island, near Matinicus. The problem has been reported as far east as Tommy s Island in Milbridge, and in Northeast Harbor the piles of dead urchins are rumored to be 2 feet deep on the bottom. There are probably many spots that have not yet been found, according to Department of Marine Resources biologist Ted Creaser, who is working on the question of why the urchins are dying. In addition, he said, some divers seem to be reluctant to report sightings for fear the fishery will be closed, putting them out of work for the winter. The news comes just at the time when preliminary reports suggested that stringent cutbacks in fishing were paying off and that the badly depleted stocks were no longer shrinking and might even be beginning to grow again.
Scientists are at a loss to explain the deaths, although there are several possible causes.
Department of Marine Resources epidemiologist Paul Waterstradt has identified a vibrio bacteria in 80 percent of the dying urchins he tested. A different bacteria from the same family was identified as a likely culprit in a wave of lobster deaths that swept Maine pounds this summer and last. Another possible cause is the unusually high algal bloom which occurred this fall. Algal blooms are a common occurrence in the warm water of late summer and early fall, but this year s bloom was extremely thick, so thick urchin divers had difficulty even seeing the urchin beds. It may have been so thick, the biologists speculate, that when the algae began to die it used up so much oxygen from the water that the urchins literally drowned.