Emma Sheehan: I want to tell you about “starballing”. It’s a behaviour that we have recently documented in Marine Biodiversity and here is a link where you can watch it in action.

Starballing is when common starfish Asterias rubens gets carried along by tidal currents. We observed the starfish bouncing along the seabed with their arms folded up, making a ball shape.  This behaviour might explain mass stranding, it also may provide a means of relocation.  I would love to hear if anyone else has observed this behaviour.