Why The Name SeaStar?
“SeaStar” is another name for starfish. The name reflects our Atlantic location, but also captures the meaning of the “Starfish Story”; a reminder of the powerful difference we can all make, one person at a time.
While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking things up and throwing them into the ocean.
As he got closer, he noticed that it was a young man, surrounded by starfish that had washed up on the beach in a recent storm. The young man was picking up starfish one by one, and tossing them gently back into the water.
The elderly man came closer and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”
The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”
The young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”
Puzzled, the elderly man commented, “But, young man, there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile. You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said,
“It made a difference for that one.”
– Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley