I tentatively concur with the Roger. Maybe the agencies or others are already looking at this and are sifting to the data/evidence but for what its worth I think a closer look of the entire benthic community, especially sessile organisms might be useful in teasing out potential causes, i.e. are there other less obvious mortalities of benthic worms etc.? Also, did the original folks who initially observe and reported this notice whether this mortality occurred rapidly over a short period or slowly build up? A slow build up would be more indicative of a pathogen. Was it first observed in [...]