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The Starfish Story  

 

There is a story about an old writer who always took walks on the beach before he began his day. One morning after a storm had passed, he was walking the beach and found that the storm had washed up thousands of starfish. The beach was filled with them.

 

He noticed a little boy bending over and tossing starfishes into the sea. The old man watched for a while and then decided this was ridiculous and walked up to the boy. He spoke in a disgusted voice, “You can’t possibly save all of them,” he snorted. “There are thousands! Why even bother?” He stood with his hands on his hips and looked down at the boy. 

 

The boy looking up and down the beach, shrugged his shoulders and replied, “You are right. I can’t possibly save all of them.” He bent down and picked up a starfish and explained, “But I can save this one,” and he threw the starfish into the sea. Then he picked up another and exclaimed, “And this one!” The boy continued down the beach saving and exclaiming as he went, “And this one!”

Starfish low res.jpg

Revised from Peter Straube's starfish story at http://bit.ly/starfish-story 

 

Peter Straube adopted his story from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). Eiseley's story is much different.

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I'm telling this story because many people don't see how saving one can do any good. They believe one isn't enough, so they don't do anything. Some believe that animals on another continent are not their problem. They're too far away so how can we do anything? It's sad. One at a time. That's all it takes.

 

On the last page of the book, I stand with many endangered species, most being destroyed by human greed and ignorance. Some of the critters have been rescued from extinction by caring people, but many on this page have not, with some well on their way to extinction ... because of human behavior.

 

Can we save just one species or shall we let them all die because it's too overwhelming to even try?

 

Take a look at the animals on the last page of the book check out the Endangered Species page and the PDF file. These creatures are fighting for their lives. These featured species are only a few. There are many more of them and they inhabit the entire world.

 

It is gratifying to know that some very special and caring people are fighting to save these animals from extinction. It shows us that when we care about living things, we can make a difference. Are you one?

 

 

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