starfish

Question
I was walking on the beach and found three sea stars on 3 rocks.I touch all three and they did not move.One of the sea star felt really hard at the top and sgishy at the bottem. Was it half dead  half alive.The other two were really hard.Were all of these dead.They were really suckshined on the rocks we could not get them off.          



         Thank's

         Ashley

Answer
starfish are very capable of handling low tides, as they have to be or else they would not fair well. when stars suction on the rocks they are trying to keep as much moisture in their body as possible. the one with the squishy leg was probably just partially dried out. but dont get me wrong if they are out of water for too long they will perish. also stars are not very fast creatures dont expect them to move, underwater if you watch really closely you can see them crawl along the rocks with their tiny little suctions cups.