2 ms·
> How quickly did the starfish return? From wikipedia: > Most starfish cannot move quickly, a typical speed being that of the leather star (Dermasterias imbri
by jldugger 10y ago
> How quickly did the starfish return?
From wikipedia:
> Most starfish cannot move quickly, a typical speed being that of the leather star (Dermasterias imbricata), which can manage just 15 cm (6 in) in a minute.
So if they managed to spend all their time moving, none of their time feeding, and moved only in a straight line, and never fatigued, they'd move 1.5km in a week. But even if his intervention wasn't completely successful, how do you propose to explain the variation between experimental and control treatments?
- sandworm101 10y agoI don't suggest that the thrown starfish are returning, but perhaps that others nearby might be moving into the test area. But it would have been interesting to tag them and see if they were in fact coming home The use of a nearby control, or for that matter any control, is based on the assumption that absent the differential treatment there should be no observed change. I'd say that in selecting a pair of control and experimental areas one should first monitor them over a significant period of time to establish that they are stable or at least similar enough. Otherwise a change that was inevitable in one but not the other will appear to have been the result of the experiment. I'd want to see more samples and some sort of region-wide survey to establish whether the baseline populations are in flux region-wide.