GREAT BARRIER REEF THREATENED BY STARFISH
An outbreak of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish has been found munching Australia’s World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. The predator starfish feeds on corals, and the outbreak hits as the reef is still reeling from two consecutive years of major coral bleaching. The threat has caused the government to start culling the starfish. The crown-of-thorns were found in large numbers last month in the Swains Reefs, at the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, by researchers from the reef’s Marine Park Authority.