Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/05/u-k-winter-storm-kills-thousa.html
…
2 Likes
ahem, seastars
And lots of other things!
And the “drastic drop in temperature” isn’t the only, and maybe not the main, cause This Guardian article has more.
“There was a 3C drop in sea temperature last week which will have caused animals to hunker down and reduce their activity levels,” said Bex Lynam, from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. “This makes them vulnerable to rough seas – they became dislodged by large waves and washed ashore when the rough weather kicked in.”
So, the colder water alone wasn’t necessarily enough to kill the animals.
5 Likes
I would think not, first because Emma wasn’t much of a storm despite the UK media frenzy, and second because the temperatures were only low by recent standards, and represent a reversion to temperatures that were common in the 1980s, not long enough for the starfish to evolve an intolerance to it.
3 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
