26Nov/090
Starfish: better than I thought
Here's what I thought about starfish, until about five minutes ago:
- Don't look like fish
- Don't seem to do much
- They're probably just like really big limpets
It certainly never occurred to me they can move, but the BBC have a gorgeous time-lapse video of starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and other soft, squishy seafarers swarming over and feasting upon on a dead seal. It looks like CGI.
Here are some things I know now about starfish:
- Starfish can eat by pushing their stomachs through their mouths and using the digestive juices to break down the foodstuff.
- There is a type of starfish called a 'Bat star'. Sometimes Bat stars fight. "Fighting behavior consists of pushing and laying an arm over the other." Aw.
- Some starfish can regenerate. Chop a starfish into five pieces, and - as long as some part of the central ring is left attached to each arm - you'll get five starfish. Nice.
I am now a fan of starfish. Flickr has some great shots.
Hello!
Hey, thanks for coming! I'm Andrew, and this is where my headthinks come to breed. They often meander around humanism and photography, but they're flighty and you can't trust them, so anything is possible.
Do feel free to email me - I get lonely:
Your hair looks swish, by the way - have you done something new?
Recent Comments
- vicky: going up this weekend having done all the welsh peaks except 4 snowdon, cant wait
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: what, how can u live in the 21 c and say that, probably a sexist thing
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: da iawn laura, cant believe what im hearing, all this fuss, anyway love the site, and i agree, normal people who swear and curse clomb mountains cos we live in the...
on Climbing Snowdon. - Andrew: Did a few quick test shots to check the light levels, then balanced the camera on the arm of a bench, set it for a 20s exposure and hoped for the best
on ISS. - lynsey: Wow, how did you take that photograph?
on ISS.
