The largest starfish in the world
Among the prime wildlife destinations in the world, the Pacific Northwest is probably not among them. Sure, we have some interesting critters – but we have nowhere near the diversity of other locations in the world. Nevertheless, one thing we can lay claim to is having the largest and one of the coolest starfish in the world.
The sunflower starfish is the largest starfish in the world and one of the most feared predators of the ocean. I remember watching them on Planet Earth one night and thinking how cool it would be to actually see one. I later learned that one can find them in the Pacific Northwest but figured that my chances of actually seeing one were slim.
While walking on the beach at Kopachuck State Park, someone mentioned that there was a starfish with many legs. Excited, I walked over and sure enough it was the starfish I suspected.
As starfish go, the sunflower starfish moves quite quickly. While we were on the beach it did not move at all, though the small bristles under the starfish were moving and it was definitely still living. I only hope that the huge numbers of people who were at the beach that day did not disturb it.
Sunflower stars begin their lives with much fewer legs and grow more of them as they age. Nothing was near this starfish on the beach and I’m sure that was not a coincidence.
They can actually move at one meter per minute – which is blazingly fast by starfish standards! They also have the ability to shed their own arms in order to escape predators.
Kopachuk is quickly becoming one of my favorite parks, though it is somewhat ruined by the huge numbers of people who come there – some of whom do not care for the life they share the beach with. Still, if you get to the park early there is a tremendous amount of marine life there waiting for you.
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Tags: beach, starfish, sunflower star, wildlife