Thanksgiving weekend 2011 brought thousands of visitors to FMR, and they were all treated to some daytime “star gazing” in the form of the many sea stars that make their homes in the rocky intertidal habitat.
The sunflower star has up to 22 legs and can measure 3 feet across.
The sunflower star is one of the most special finds in the reserve. And not just because they have so many arms (up to 22!); they prefer to hunt in the deeper zones of the intertidal, and so they are most visible during very low minus tides.
Other stars we saw included bat stars, ochre sea stars of both the purple and orange varieties, leather stars, and the pink star.
