it was as though the mud were a sky

Seattle Aquarium

Did you know?

Instead of blood, sea stars use sea water to pump nutrients through their body.

They have no brain.

They have a lifespan of 35 years.

One time, I saw one that looked like this:

From another angle, it looked like this:

I've always considered myself a friend of the Sea Star. See below. 

SeaWorld, San Diego, California

My favorite poet, Galway Kinnell, wrote a beautiful poem about these creatures.

Daybreak

On the tidal mud, just before sunset,
dozens of starfishes
were creeping. It was
as though the mud were a sky
and enormous, imperfect stars
moved across it as slowly
as the actual stars cross heaven.
All at once they stopped,
and, as if they had simply
increased their receptivity
to gravity, they sank down
into the mud, faded down
into it and lay still, and by the time
pink of sunset broke across them
they were as invisible
as the true stars at daybreak.