June 02, 2014
If you live on the west coast of the United States you've likely heard of or possibly even seen the results of what's called Starfish Wasting Disease. It's a massive die-off of starfish that get infected.
Unfortunately scientists have not figured out exactly what causes it. The only thing they've come up with so far is it does seem to have a correlation to raised water temperatures.
It's not the first time it's happened. It happened in 1972 on the east coast and in 1978 in the Gulf of California which in many places it still hasn't recovered.
One of the joys of living by the Pacific Ocean is going tide-pooling. Not so much if you're seeing starfish disintegrating. Hopefully this past year's plague will pass and our warming oceans don't cause an increasing number of outbreaks in the years to come.
So what's this got to do with such a soft and pretty pendant? Only the inspiration behind it!
A few years ago I bought this pair of cast and carved glass starfish from Gary B Wilson, my favorite lapidarist. I thought they'd make pretty earrings, but putting them both in a pair of earrings made for an expensive pair of earrings. So I waited.
I purchased the Starfish polymer charms from Humblebeads last winter and when doing some rearranging knew they'd look great together. Whether for a beach wedding or the summer pendant to wear with everything I think this one is a reminder of how beautiful and precious is our natural environment.