UK Nature and Environment

396 readers

99 users here now

General Instance Rules:

No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia.
No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies.
No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users.
Do not share intentionally false or misleading information.
Do not spam or abuse network features.

Community Specific Rules:

Keep posts UK-specific. There are other places on Lemmy to post articles which relate to global environmental issues (e.g. slrpnk.net).
Keep comments in English so that they can be appropriately moderated.

Note: Our temporary logo is from The Wildlife Trusts. We are not officially associated with them.

Our autumn banner is a shot of maple leaves by Hossenfeffer.

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

Kim

GreyShuck

Unusual phenomenon may have stranded thousands of starfish on Welsh beaches (www.walesonline.co.uk)

submitted 8 months ago by GreyShuck to c/nature

3 comments fedilink hide all child comments

"Thousands" of starfish have washed up on a Welsh coastline with scientists looking to weather changes for the reason behind the strange phenonemon. The creatures were spotted in various parts of the north Wales coastline, from Prestatyn, Denbighshire to Rhyl.

With reports of mass starfish strandings appearing to be on the rise, especially along the Welsh coast, researchers are trying to establish if the trend is linked to climate change. Some suspect it may be linked to “starballing”, a behaviourial respose only discovered relatively recently.

The fish were spotted by grandather Stuart Wimblese who reported seeing “thousands” in water pools and along the shoreline in Prestatyn. "There were literally thousands of them," he said. "Some were alive by the groynes but sadly some did not make it.", reports North Wales Live.

top 3 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] Tweak 2 points 8 months ago

Could this "unusual phenomenon" have anything to do with the amount of sewage being dumped nearby?

[–] rubikcuber 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I read this article. The "strange phenomenon" is basically... storms and high tides.

[–] GreyShuck 4 points 8 months ago

I think that what they are referring to is "starballing". From the article:

To their amazement, they filmed shoals of starfish hurtling through the water at breakneck speeds. Dubbed “starballing”, this behaviour is thought to be a response to environmental changes such as rapid currents. When in starballing mode, the creatures bloat up their bodies, retract their tentacles and detach from the seabed.

This lets them be carried away to better feeding grounds, but it can be dangerous because if the wind and waves are blowing towards the shore, as they can end up on the beach.