These are the most common sea stars in the Salish Sea. They are also called ochre or purple sea stars, but can be orange, brown, or yellowish. Look for a network of white prickly spines on its body to help distinguish it.
You will often see them in clusters of other stars on or under rocks in the intertidal zones. Get close and study their busy tube feet which enable them to move and eat.
Ochre stars eat many tide pool creatures, but two of their favorites are California mussels and goose barnacles. Both of those animals attach to their surface and are easy for the sea star to surround and open. If you see a star bunched up in the middle, it is probably eating, as its stomach is on its underside.
If the ochre star loses an arm (called a ray) it can grow it back. Sometimes, you will see one with one arm that is shorter because of that.
Ochre sea stars live a long time. Although it is hard to determine the age of an individual, it is known that these beautiful creatures can live more than 20 years.
Pacific Wonder Tracker 
Many, if not most of our stars live more than 20 years- they are difficult to age, but there is no evidence that this species is the longest-lived
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