Lone Sea Star

Asterias:

When I turn back the pages of my "rite in rain" notebook to early summer 2011 on Fishers Island, I was jotting observations that had me realize I had not seen so many starfish washed ashore-ever.

As I walked both Isabella & South Beaches, I would tally up to 20-40 of these delicate sea creatures.

Recently I read that researchers of invertebrate at Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. did indeed note a population explosion of starfish during the same 2011 time frame.

Last November on Chocomount I noted just one Asterias sea star in a shallow tidal pool

.

This past summer, University scientists in nearby Rhode Island observed so few starfish between New Jersey and Maine that they were asking local divers to “let them know if ANY starfish population existed that might help with area research.”

A massive die off is noticed on our East Coast.

This November, Race Point at twilight gifted me and my field notes with this lone star.