Christmas storm blamed for hundreds of starfish washed up on Dutch beaches

Janene Pieters
NLTimes
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:30 UTC

© @ikduszelfsoms/Twitter

Hundreds of starfish wash up on Dutch shores, 27 Dec 2016.

Hundreds of starfish washed up on Dutch beaches on Tuesday. Conservationists from Ecomare believe a storm was behind the animals being washed ashore, NU.nl reports.

Starfish were found on beaches in Callantsoog, Groote Keten, Egmond aan Zee and Wijk aan Zee.

According to Ecomare, a combination of strong winds and low temperatures at sea resulted in the starfish not having enough strength to cling to the ground. They were therefore taken by the tide and washed ashore.

Comment: In 2016, dead starfish have also been found on beaches in the UK, US, Turkey, and Western Australia:

7 Jan 2016: Tens of thousands of dead jellyfish and starfish found on beaches of West Sussex and Hampshire, UK
25 Jan 2016: Thousands of starfish wash ashore at Port St. Joe, Florida
28 Jun 2016: Hundreds of starfish wash up on the shores of the Marmara Sea, Turkey
3 Aug 2016: Up to 1000 dead starfish found on beaches near Fremantle, Western Australia
22 Nov 2016: Thousands of starfish wash up on beach in Southsea, UK