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