I think Jim ran into problem on how to make the starfish bend and go up the glass... Perhaps he will have an inspiration while sitting in a chair on a plane that will not bend (recline)...
Here's an idea: rather than trying to model the starfish transitioning from a horizontal directly to a vertical surface (see fig1), perhaps you could mound the gravel against the glass (it looks like it's already done that way) and then the starfish could essentially follow a curving path that happens to start on the gravel bed and ends up on the glass. (See fig2).
Does this make sense?
~Ralph S.