A lone sunstar rests amongst many, many brittle stars. In this image, the characteristic sediment on the seafloor seen throughout Dive 08 of the Seascape Alaska 3 expedition is visible. The sediment consisted of a mixture of well-sorted, volcanic sand (darker patches) and organic-rich mud (lighter patches) as well as numerous burrows from worms and other organisms.
Sea Stars and Seafloor
Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska. Download larger version (jpg, 1.3 MB).

A lone sunstar rests amongst many, many brittle stars. In this image, the characteristic sediment on the seafloor seen throughout Dive 08 of the Seascape Alaska 3 expedition is visible. The sediment consisted of a mixture of well-sorted, volcanic sand (darker patches) and organic-rich mud (lighter patches) as well as numerous burrows from worms and other organisms.