starfish story

adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley, 1979

One day an elderly gentleman was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night hundreds of starfish had been washed up on the beach by the high tide. Thoroughly enjoying the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked on.

In the distance, he saw someone going back and forth between the surf's edge and the beach. They were leaning down, picking something up and throwing it back into the ocean - it almost looked like a dance. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that the figure was that of a boy, picking up the starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water. The old man smiled, and said, "I must ask, why are you throwing the starfish back into the ocean?" To this, the boy replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, "But child, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference.

The boy stopped and listened politely. "You're probably right," he replied. He looked down at the sand. Then he bent down, carefully picked up yet another starfish and threw it gently into the sea. As it met the water, he said, "But I made a difference to that one."