Heavy seas likely reason for mass starfish stranding, says expert

A mass stranding that saw thousands of starfish wash up on a beach was most likely the result of heavy seas and strong currents, an expert has said.

Thousands of the invertebrates were washed ashore along a wide stretch of Kirkcaldy beach in Fife on Monday, with many being thrown up on to the paved footpath above the beach by large waves.

The decaying remains of the creatures remained strewn in heaps all over the sand on Tuesday, while bemused locals picked their way among them, many taking photos.

Helen Clark, 86, who has lived in Kirkcaldy for about 50 years, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it.

“But I did see the strong winds yesterday, because all this sand was blowing up, so that could be a reason for it.”

Her son Andrew, who had travelled up from nearby Inverkeithing on Tuesday, said it was “very unusual”.

The 61-year-old said: “I can’t understand why they’re all dead, first and foremost.

“Something’s killed them. What it is I don’t know. They need to get somebody down to have a look at it, I would say. But to see so many, it’s amazing.”

Professor David Ferrier, from the Scottish Oceans Institute at the University of St Andrews, said Monday’s heavy seas are a “likely explanation” for the stranding.

“If these heavy seas and strong currents caught an area of the seabed with lots of these starfish, then they will simply have been caught up in the waves and washed ashore,” he said.

“This is most likely an unfortunate – for the starfish – natural event. Nothing to be worried about.”

He added that starfish can survive out of water for a short period of time, but “only really for a matter of minutes if they are completely high-and-dry”.

He went on: “If they are still alive when found, then it is worth putting them back in the sea and they may well recover and be fine.

“It is easy to see if a starfish is alive or not, as the hundreds of tube feet with suckers on the animal’s underside will be slowly moving around trying to gain a purchase on something.”

Dr Lyndsey Dodds, oceans recovery policy manager at WWF Scotland, said: “When large numbers of starfish are found washed up on beaches – as we’ve seen recently in Kirkcaldy – it’s typically the result of storm activity.

“We know climate change means we are experiencing more frequent storms, so we may see increasing impacts on marine life.

“If the starfish remain submerged, they can survive and can be carried back out to sea with the incoming tide.

“Unfortunately, many are likely to have been exposed for too long or sustained damage, meaning survival is unlikely.”