Thousands of starfish washed ashore

Rapunzel · Post by **Rapunzel** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:46 pm

More than 10,000 were left high and dry on the sands after choppy seas washed them from their feeding grounds. And unfortunately, nearly all perished, unable to get back to the safety of the water. The graveyard of orange and pink extends more than a quarter of a mile along the golden sands of Holkham Beach in Norfolk England.

Thousands of starfish carpet Norfolk beach as storm throws them from the sea | Mail Online

Stretching along the shore as far as the eye can see, it is a galaxy of starfish.

Attached files

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:36 pm

THE STARFISH POEM

Once upon a time there was a wise man

who used to go to the ocean

to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking

on the beach

before he began his work.

One day he was walking along

the shore.

As he looked down the beach,

he saw a human

figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself to think

of someone who would

dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster

to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw

that it was a young man

and the young man wasn't dancing,

but instead he was reaching

down to the shore,

picking up something

and very gently throwing it

into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out,

"Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused,

looked up and replied,

"Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked,

why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out.

And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that

there are miles and miles of beach

and starfish all along it.

You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another starfish

and threw it into the sea,

past the breaking waves and said-

"It made a difference for that one."

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:56 pm

Rapunzel;1272552 wrote: More than 10,000 were left high and dry on the sands after choppy seas washed them from their feeding grounds. And unfortunately, nearly all perished, unable to get back to the safety of the water. The graveyard of orange and pink extends more than a quarter of a mile along the golden sands of Holkham Beach in Norfolk England.

Thousands of starfish carpet Norfolk beach as storm throws them from the sea | Mail Online

Stretching along the shore as far as the eye can see, it is a galaxy of starfish.

imagine seeing that on your daily stroll.

mikeinie · Post by **mikeinie** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 5:45 am

‘Choppy seas’?? did all that? The sea is often choppy, why this time did it do this I wonder.

Very sad

CARLA · Post by **CARLA** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 8:59 am

Something else had to contribute to this rough waters can't be the only reason or it would have happened before.

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:16 am

CARLA;1272923 wrote: Something else had to contribute to this rough waters can't be the only reason or it would have happened before.

it has happened before:

'Strandings tend to occur once a year or once every two years.

'They are also most common between November and March - the time of the year when we experience bigger tides.'

Mrs Perrott estimated that the carpet of orange and pink stretched for more than a quarter of mile.

Read more: Thousands of starfish carpet Norfolk beach as storm throws them from the sea | Mail Online

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 3:37 pm

CARLA;1272923 wrote: Something else had to contribute to this rough waters can't be the only reason or it would have happened before.

Hi Carla,

Hundreds of starfish washed upon the land happens more often than you'd think.

Sometimes starfish move en mass to shallow water to hunt for clams. A storm arrives and lifts the starfish from the seabed and deposits them on land.

It's only happened twice at my beach, but I've read many reports that it has happened more than we think.

~~~~very sad indeed~~~~

Ahso! · Post by **Ahso!** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:25 am

I've read in the past that this most likely has to do with excessive commercial shell fishing. If thats true, our oceans are changing in dramatic fashion.