Marooned cushion starfish turns out to be just a pillow

By Susan Scott

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 05, 2012

~~<p>While riding my bicycle on the bridge near the center of Kailua Beach Park last week, I spotted a cushion star dead on the sand. I kept riding but couldn't stop thinking about the maroon — and marooned — starfish, taken from its ocean home and left stranded. The sight of it made me grumpy, disgusted by human beings.</p>
<p>A starfish can have as many as 50 arms — the one in Hawaii with the most arms has a name to match its beauty: the magnificent star. The starfish has 10 or 11 arms, grows to 2 feet across and covers itself in sand in deep water. Most Hawaii divers have never seen a magnificent star, nor have I, but I live in hope.</p>
~~

While riding my bicycle on the bridge near the center of Kailua Beach Park last week, I spotted a cushion star dead on the sand. I kept riding but couldn't stop thinking about the maroon — and marooned — starfish, taken from its ocean home and left stranded. The sight of it made me grumpy, disgusted by human beings.

A starfish can have as many as 50 arms — the one in Hawaii with the most arms has a name to match its beauty: the magnificent star. The starfish has 10 or 11 arms, grows to 2 feet across and covers itself in sand in deep water. Most Hawaii divers have never seen a magnificent star, nor have I, but I live in hope. Login for more...