Sentinels or Toxic Environment?

Thousands of dead starfish found on beach

By Paul Eccleston
12/03/2008

Thousands of starfish have been found washed up dead on a beach in Kent. A carpet of the dead creatures covered hundreds of yards of the beach at Pegwell Bay near Sandwich.

	Dead starfish: Environment Agency is to investigate the incident

Tony Flashman, from Kingsdown near Deal, who took the photograph (right), said: “The dead starfish stretched as far as you could see in both directions.”

Fishermen and bird watchers were among the first to stumble on the bizarre sight, and it was quickly picked up by specialist websites.

The Environment Agency is investigating the incident but said it was not connected with the recent storms, pollution or climate change.

Spokesman Ian Humphries said it was not uncommon for starfish to be washed up on the shore and it was likely they had entered shallow waters in search of mussels to feed on.

“As they get hungry they get more desperate… they take risks and come into shallow water where they’re more vulnerable.” he said.

There was speculation on some of the websites that the starfish, which congregate in vast numbers, may have fallen victim to trawlers dredging the sea bottom.

The Environment Agency said it was likely the starfish corpses would provide a feast for scavenging gulls.

These animals could be the canary in the coal mine, so to speak, of environmental changes. The photograph shows an incredibly huge number of starfish for quite a distance. It is interesting that no one is yet testing the water or the starfish to find out if there is a disease or toxin killing the starfish. As the Environmental Agency suggests that there will be a feast for the gulls , lets hope that the starfish are not “toxic” to them as well.

In addition, please see Dr. Kerry Lane’s comments in First our Bees, now our Bats - Another Mystery Disease