Starfish are common finds at Rainbow Haven beach this summer. They can also be found clinging to rocks under the bridges along the Salt Marsh Trail. Starfish rely on a constant intake of moisture for all their life systems, including mobility, and can’t survive out of water for more than a couple of hours.
Many collectors dry starfish, pinning them while still wet in order to preserve their symmetry. I shudder to think that the dried starfish I purchased years ago in Florida met with such a grisly end. These days, I choose to fling the starfish I find on the beach back into the water. Recently, I found a dried starfish flattened on a cement barricade near the parking lot. It looked like it had been pounded flat while wet. I know it’s just a starfish, but it seemed like such a waste of life.
Over the years, I’ve seen children take buckets full of starfish and living molluscs away from the beach. Unless they had a salt water tank at home ready to receive these wild creatures, why would parents allow this? When and where do we acquire or lose our reverence for living things?
Awe is a big part of reverence. Though often present in childhood, sometimes, as we grow older, it becomes difficult to keep that sense of awe alive. Familiarity with a natural environment can also make us take it for granted. In its practice, reverence reveals to the world that we humbly acknowledge the presence and needs of other human beings and living creatures besides ourselves.
Litter at the beach is another sign that reverence is lacking. People come to the beach to be refreshed by nature but don’t realize their role in maintaining this setting for others to enjoy. Even worse, they don’t care about the living creatures that make their permanent home at the beach. Homeowners living nearby also get extremely frustrated by the excess of litter.
Despite the presence of park signs advising owners to keep a rein on pets, dogs are frequently seen off leash. It’s not just people who are intimidated by dogs running wild. Piping plovers, ground nesting birds, no longer make their home on this beach due to loss of undisturbed habitat.
As our beaches become more crowded during the summer season, it’s even more important for everyone to practice reverence towards one another and the natural environment. We’re not alone. Let’s not act as if we were.
If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life.
~ Albert Schweitzer
Flandrum Hill 
Well-said, Miss Amy! One of my biggest peeves is littering when there’s absolutely no need for it. As my kids were growing up and now with my granddaughter, that was one of the life lessons I tried really hard to impress on them. I nag about it all the time to my crew at school, too….hopefully, they’re getting the message. Thanx for reminding all of us of the sanctity of the life around us!
Cindy, sometimes I wonder if some people litter just to leave their mark on a place, similar to graffiti. They need to find another way to express themselves.
I don’t think everyone goes to the beach to be “refreshed by nature”. Wish they did.
It’s like the folk who go camping to drink and party.
They don’t get it.
Sigh …
Sybil, you’re quite right. It would appear they don’t. What a sin 😉
Reverence. Amy, you have found the key word that can save us. Alas! we seem to have it only for ourselves.
Just how long will nature tolerate our ignorance is the question.
Swaps, reverence is something we can all practice, regardless of our culture or spiritual beliefs. Nature has been putting up with our lack of reverence for far too long. It’s a shame that we are a species of such slow learners.
I think we have forgotten to respect life in ALL its forms. Our forefathers surely knew the inter-connections that sustain life, why else would we Hindus have so many Gods, some in animal ‘avatar’, each with an animal for his vehicle… only so that future generations would hold them all as sacred. But we worship stone idols even as we encroach on their habitats.
Amy, heard this saying “It is difficult to wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep”.
Swaps, that is a wise saying. Thanks for adding it.
I remember the old public service ad: “It’s enough to make you sick. Isn’t it enough to make you stop?” Wonder if we could challenge some bright young gurus to create something like that for today’s social media.
Humans are heedless, mainly out of ignorance, sometimes out of callousness. I know I’ve done lots of things I wish I could take back. All we can do is to move forward, trying to see fully ourselves, inviting others to come along on the walk through wonders.
Gerry, there used to be signs around warning about costly fines for littering. I haven’t seen one in some time. Maybe the powers that be don’t think littering is such a problem anymore.
I think those type of public service ads stick with young people. Modelling good behaviour is also helpful. Without saying a word, one of my friends picks up litter when she sees it being thrown down by litterers and places it in the proper receptacle in their presence.
keep it up….. this is great.. we love the pics
thank you wordpress neighbor!
Well said indeed. We were just discussing the other day how bad the river where we are camping needs to be cleaned. It seems there are a number of people who go there to cool down but they leave all their beer cans behind.
By the way, last time I saw a stranded starfish I made my hubby toss him back in. 🙂