Tag Archives: Ochre Sea Star

Roxanne Holmes wrote, “This Sea Star is alive and seems to be doing okay despite missing a couple of ‘legs,’ or whatever they’re called. I check on it every low tide, and it changes position but continues to do well. Do Sea Stars thrive without all their limbs? What destroys or severs their limbs? Will the limbs grow back?”

Bob Van Syoc to the rescue. He looked at Roxanne’s photo and wrote, “Yes!  Sea Stars can regenerate new arms as long as the center disc is intact.  Some can lose all but one arm and survive to regrow the other four arms.  In this state they are called ‘comets’ because of the smaller arms forming the star and the larger arm the ‘tail’ of the comet.  Arms may be lost by injury (crushed by a rock) or by predators attacking them, though our Stars have few predators.”

Here's a photo Roxanne took of a happier sight - two Ochre Stars (yes, they come in different colors!), a Bat Star, Sea Anemone, and several Purple Urchins and more. A kaleidoscope of colors!

Thanks to Roxanne for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

Cool, breezy with dark clouds now and then. More weather headed our way in a couple of days.

We had a big minus tide last weekend. James Tervo and Janet Burch were out early to see the intertidal zone. Janet photographed this beautiful Ochre Star.

I learned from Bob Van Syoc that the white dots on the surface of the Star are part of its skeleton.

Janet took this photo showing a healthy intertidal zone. Look at all those Stars tucked in!

Thanks to Janet for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

Sunny and warm today!

It's so wonderful to see Sea Stars in abundance, recovering from the wasting disease. Roxanne Holmes found a baby Star, a juvenile Bat Sea Star, Patiria miniata.

Amy Ruegg went to Walk On Beach at low tide recently and she found this glorious group of Ochre Sea Stars, Pisaster ochraceus.

Thanks to Roxanne and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

We are having a sun-splashed day on the Mendonoma Coast today!

Michelle Rossich was celebrating her birthday by taking a walk on the Lands. This beautiful Great Blue Heron took flight quite close to her, a real gift.

Michelle found more gifts in the tide pools. First a beautiful Sea Anemone.

And a healthy Ochre Sea Star.

Birthday gifts courtesy of Mother Nature!

Thanks to Michelle for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

Sunny, breezy, so-not-winter, here today. Perhaps some rain by the weekend...we hope!

I'll let Craig Tooley tell the story:

Craig wrote, “I was out peeking into our local tide pools and thought you might enjoy some of my sightings. The Red Sea urchin is much less common in our area, and I felt honored to have found one.”

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Bob Van Syoc took a look at Craig’s photo and wrote, “The things that look like tentacles are tube feet. Urchins use them to move around and also to grab drift kelp to eat. They work like tiny hydraulic suction cups!”

Craig also found an Ochre Sea Star, a beautiful sight to behold!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com