The Oregon Coast may be the property of the people of Oregon, available for recreation and enjoyment by everyone, but you can’t pick up sea stars just because you see them on the beach there.
It’s not you, it’s them.
There aren’t enough of them to go around. Yes, global warming is probably to blame, at least in part, but nobody really knows why so many species are being wiped out by an illness with the creepy and disturbingly vague name “Sea Star Wasting Disease.”
Then there’s the other way that humans are ruining the oceans.
No, not microplastics: invasive species.
The Mediterranean Green Crab (Carcinusmaenas), also known as the Crazy Lady Crab, was first noticed on the Pacific Coast in 1989. Since then, it has spread from Baja California to Alaska, chowing down on clams, oysters, other crab, and miscellaneous small animal life found along the coast – including sea stars. [Given the fondness that the Maenads of legend had for snipping off men’s genitals, male swimmers at the coast might be advised to wear shorts.]
So, go ahead and admire the tide pools, but don’t go prying the sea stars off the rocks. They’re not good eating, they won’t get you high and the plaster ones you can buy at the hobby shop will be better to put in the shadowbox with the sand you brought home, anyway.
By John M. Burt
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