Starfish.. Great Barrier.

  • Crown of thorns are doing the same in Hawaii.


    Along with the aquarium fish hunters who use bleach to bring the fish out of the reef.


    Its a shame.

  • There is some indication that the Crown of Thorns (CoTs) are not really a cause, but a result.


    In 1998 there was a very strong El Nino and coral reefs around the world bleached, or turned white from the stress due to temperature increase. From Belize to Malaysia (I was diving there in late 98 and the water was almost too warm with a lycra suit at 30 meters depth and the coral was turning white) to the Great Barrier Reef. I was living on Boracay, Philippines in all of 99 and all the reef on the west side of the small island bleached white from the temperature increase. Within a few months, there were thousands upon thousand of CoTs showing up and eating what was left. We organized all the dive shops and would go out every Monday and collect or kill (by injecting chlorine into them) as many as we could. It was a pretty hopeless cause though.
    However, the south, north and east sides of the island's corals were virtually unaffected by the COTs. There are strong currents at every tide change on those parts, presumedly bringing in cooler water, keeping the reef healthy, indicated by little to no bleaching.
    Worldwide COTs have made infestations. As the Aussie guy in the video mentioned, runoff could be a problem but more indirectly than by providing nutrients for the COT larvae. It may be weakening the reef's natural defenses against COTs, which some believe that when healthy, produce natural barriers or other chemicals that prepel the COTs.

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