Science: Quicklime v. Asteroidea

Greatest bane of Atlantic seaboard oystermen is not the four months without R but the family of Asteroidea—starfish. When a starfish wants an oyster, it wraps its arms around an oyster's shell and pulls. The oyster resists, but its shell-closing muscle eventually tires and its shell gapes. The starfish then intrudes its stomach into the opening, absorbs the oyster. To reduce the numbers of starfish preying on their beds, oystermen frequently drag frayed ropes over the sea bottom. The spiny skins of the starfish become entangled in the ropes and they are hauled to the surface and destroyed.

Last week...