Hi all, I have a question from a friend of mine (she assumes that since I dive, I know everything about the reef/ocean, LOL!)

My friend is interested in decorating her new office in an oceanic theme and was looking at getting some starfish (the dried up kind) to set on her desk, but before she buys them, she wanted to know if they are harvested alive, and if they are endangered.

I "assume" they are harvested alive... but I was unsure about the endangered part. My personal policy is to not buy anything that comes off the reef like that, but I thought I'd check with you all as far as a diving perspective.

Thanks in advance!

Becky that is tough one, I'm sure they are harvested alive. On the other hand, there is zillions of them and I somehow doubt taking a few for decorations is going to decrease the population much. There are places I dive where the bottom is covered in starfish as far as you can see. eg.

Cecil, that is one of my favorite of your pictures.

Cecil, thanks for the input... I couldn't remember hearing about starfish being protected or endangered, but she wanted me to ask.

It's nice to see "proof" that they are quite plentiful... nice picture

(Message edited by morgans4me on February 28, 2006)

You could always get fake starfish, and fake coral to boot, it looks pretty good!

I'll recommend it to her, Seb, thanks for the idea.

Every one does realize that taking anything off the reef is a big No No on Bonaire and could get you in some serious trouble at the airport when leaving.

Lorraine... yes, I realize that, my friend is in Florida and had found some things online and in local stores that she was questioning me about.