In his serial killer, crime comedy novel, Pineapple Grenade, of 2012, Tim Dorsey wrote:
“A prosthetic leg with a Willie Nelson bumper sticker washed ashore on the beach, which meant it was Florida. Then it got weird.”
From the proverbial “Florida Man” to all the whacky wildlife, the Sunshine State is a hotbed of strangeness. And recently, on the Space Coast – which includes the hallowed ground of Kelly Slater’s hometown, Cocoa Beach – more bizarro marine life has been washing ashore. Not prosthetic legs, however; instead, an influx of otherworldly, creepy-crawly nine-armed sea stars. See below.
“I was definitely a little shocked,” said one beachgoer. “I’ve seen five-armed sea stars before, but I’ve never seen anything like this. He was large. I’ve never seen a sea star this large. A lot of people were commenting [on her photo of the creature], saying they’ve seen similar sea stars. I just wanted to make sure I could protect him, and make sure I could get him back in the water, so he could continue living on.”
At this time, scientists aren’t sure why there’s been a surge of the sea stars on the Space Coast.
Photographer Michael Stephen Wills, another witness to the curious starfish, had this philosophical reflection following his encounter:
“Cocoa Beach, with its gentle waves and abundant life, had once again provided an unforgettable encounter with nature. The starfish, now safely returned to the ocean, would continue its unseen work beneath the waves, a quiet but essential denizen of the underwater world.”
Anyone who comes across the nine-armed starfish are advised to gently scoop them up with sand beneath them, then place them back into the ocean. And fun fact: While most starfish we see have five arms, certain species can have up to 40 arms.
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