St. Louis, MO
Change Location

The Starfish Float

We do it all the time at British Swim School. But starfish don’t float – which isn’t the only difference….

child doing the starfish float

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we say “Float like a starfish” we mean extend arms and legs to look like a starfish because that makes floating easier. And knowing how to float is a critical survival skill. But there would be all sorts of problems in being like a starfish.

We don’t suggest eating like a starfish…
Starfish eat their dinner by extending their stomachs into their prey. When a starfish finds a tasty looking clam or mussel, it attaches its arms on either side of the shellfish. Using its tiny suction cupped tube feet, it pries the shellfish open. Then its stomach emerges from its mouth at the center of its body and oozes into the shellfish where it digests the prey. And these are raw clams and mussels. Yuck !!

Regeneration might come in handy but…
Amazingly starfish can grow new arms and sometimes even a whole body from just one arm Some starfish, if they get into a fight with a hungry predator, will break off their own arm giving the rest of their body time to escape.

We’ll stick to our kind of walking…
Starfish move by pressurizing water inside their bodies. They draw in water through a spot on the top of their bodies. The water then goes through a series of canals in their bodies to their arms which have thousands of small tube-like feet. Muscles and valves inside each tube foot pressurize water and that enables the foot to extend and retract, creating a walking movement, much like human legs but multiplied hundreds of times. At the end of each tube foot is a tiny suction cup, much like a kitchen plunger, which can stick to surfaces and allow the starfish to gain traction. (If you find a starfish, try putting it on your arm and quite quickly it will use those feet to attach itself to you.)

Seeing in the dark would be nice but…
Starfish have eyes on the ends of their legs (which makes us dizzy to think about and it would just be weird, particularly if you had to leave one behind). Some starfish can see in the dark.

About the floating…
As to the floating: While many starfish are found in inter-tidal zones (just below water level), some have been found 20,000 feet (that’s almost 4 miles) below the surface. None of them float on top of the water.

They aren’t even really “starfish”; they’re sea stars
Technically starfish aren’t starfish because they are not fish at all. Scientists are trying to get people to change what they call them and say “Sea star”

By the way, most starfish have five arms but some species have six or seven arms and some even have 10 to 15; there is one kind that has over 50.

Starfish or sea star – we know what they look like and trying to look like one helps spread the body over a greater surface of the water. That helps with floating. (When you are trying to float like a starfish think of those eyes on the ends of the arms and stretch them out as far as possible.) But don’t even think about trying to digest your dinner outside your body.


British Swim School St. Louis offers premium water survival and swimming lessons for infants, toddlers, children and adults, starting at just 3 months old. We proudly serve the St. Louis communities of Afton, Ballwin, Brentwood, Chesterfield, Clayton, Concord, Crestwood, Creve Coeur, Dardenne Prairie, Eureka, Fenton, High Ridge, Howell Island, Kirkwood, Ladue, Lake St. Louis, Manchester, Maplewood, Maryland Heights, New Town, Olivette, Overland, Richmond Heights, St. Charles, Orchard Farm, St. Paul, St. Peters, Sunset Hills, Town and Country, Valley Park, Webster Groves, Weldon Springs, and Wildwood. Call 314-312-1878 to enroll or find a class online.

Our Trusted Partners

USSSA Logo
CSSA Logo
SwimAngelfish
Hope Floats Logo
NPDA Logo