2,000+ Starfish wash up dead along Padre Island in Texas, America |

A colony of at least 2,000 starfish that washed up dead on the southernmost part of Padre Island National Seashore is no cause for alarm, according to park officials.

Water temperatures leading up to the time of the Jan. 18 discovery were in the low 50s, park officials said. Most likely the cold snap in early January is what killed the starfish, which thrive in warmer conditions and cannot tolerate long periods of cold, said Patrick Gamman, the park’s chief of Interpretation and Education and public information officer.

“If this were to happen again and again over a 10-year period we would be concerned,” Gamman said. “But this seems to be a one-time event, so at this time I wouldn’t say the sky is falling.”

The die-off follows dozens of green sea turtles that were cold-stunned on area beaches in recent weeks. No turtles were seen at the time or in the vicinity of the starfish find, Gamman said. Most of the stranding turtles from the Coastal Bend were rescued from the Laguna Madre and many have been released. So far this winter about 500 green sea turtles have died statewide from the cold.

Off-duty park guide Kathy Sanders, found the sun-dried sea stars scattered tightly on the beach near the Mansfield Channel jetties, which is about 60 miles from the park’s Malaquite Visitors Center. Buzz Botts, the park’s education coordinator, said Sanders collected some of the stiff invertebrates with plans to use them in educational programs for park visitors. A similar die-off occurred at the park several years ago following a cold snap, Botts said.

“We use the dried sea stars on our touch table and in programs to help students learn about some of the common marine organisms within the park,” Botts said.

Starfish are rarely seen by seashore visitors, though they are common in the surf and farther offshore, Gamman said. He estimated these starfish may have been living on the gulf floor within a quarter mile of the beach, where they eat mostly snails and sea slugs.

“I’m sure this has happened before in the last 100 years,” Gamman said. “But we don’t usually see them because they are doing well.”

Courtesy of Caller Times

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