Crown Of Thorns Starfish Essay

The reason why scientists are putting so much money into sea star research is because since June 2013 there has been evidence of a disease among the species. The sickness of a keystone species means a great deal because it will be detrimental to its surrounding species and ecosystem. Sea stars have been found to have white lesions on their body as well as detached limbs (The Verge, 2014). Although sea stars are an intimidating predator able to eat through limpets and mussels they are unable to fight this outbreak known as Sea Star Wasting Disease (SSWD). The two species of sea stars most commonly affected by this disease are the Pisaster ochraceus and the Pyncopodia helianthoides. Researchers have concluded through genetic sequencing that a virus on sea stars may be reacting with a certain bacteria on them thus causing harm to their immune system (Schrope, 2014). Another cause may be temperature of water; researches also found that a slight increase in temperature can have a negative effect on sea stars. Along with getting warmer the oceans are also becoming more acidic due to carbon dioxide

Going far down into the unknown waters where humans would be crushed. Workers can save by robots from performing dangerous tasks.

As seen in Appendix 2, divers hunt down the starfish and with a single injection these starfish die from an allergic reaction in 24 hours. This has destroyed 250,000 Crown of Thorn Starfish in 21 months (Courier Mail, 2016). North Queensland divers, in a 40 minute dive, can cull more than 1000 Crown of Thorns Starfish (Courier Mail, 2016). The underwater robot, the COTSBot, eliminates the threat of the Crown of Thorns Starfish it’s intended to cruise around a designated area of a coral reef and to seek out and destroy the Crown of Thorns Starfish (ABC News, 2015). This robot has been in development for ten years as the technology wasn’t equipped to create this incredible invention and with powerful thrusters and GPS technology, the robot cruises about a metre above the coral surface, with the use of visual recognition technology, it seeks out the predator (ABC News, 2015). Once a starfish is spotted an injector arm will shoot out and stab it, this could potentially be a big weapon in the fight for the reef to survive (ABC News, 2015). It looks hopeful that in 2019, the amount Crown of Thorns Starfish damage should decrease with the use of the COTSBot, decreasing the amount of Crown of

The Great Barrier Reef is distressed by numerous impacts. The reef is the world’s biggest living creature, fully made of coral stretching out to 2, 300km² and is also located just off the coast of Queensland. The prime problem for the reef is overfishing. Overfishing is severely intervening the ecosystem, which is in the reef. This is killing off the fish and gradually killing animals like sharks and starfish by devouring the food chain. The reef needs a good, stable and diverse amount of fish to sustain being healthy to continue growing upwards in sea-life. If one species of fish were to be extinct from the reef, it would then sluggishly take out another species after another, continuously until The Great Barrier Reef’s demise. Many of the sea creatures are protected by international law, to help protect them from the hard ecosystem we’ve put them in, with trawling and fishing being one of their biggest encounters and most lethal ones.

There are multiple human factors that can and are affecting the coral reef ecosystems globally. One of the simpler ones is overfishing practices on the reef. An influx of people living in the tropics has caused major stress on coral reefs as a main food source. This can cause major effects on not only fish species, but the whole ecosystem. One article from volume 5, number 9 of the Conservation biology journal written in 1995 by Callum M Roberts from the University of the Virgin Islands reported that overfishing on the coral reef leads to a reduction of species biodiversity, and potential localised extinction of both the target species and other species that are indiscriminately fished from the coral reef. Loss of keystone species, for example, predators, such as triggerfish and pufferfish, of echinoderms, such as sea urchins, through overfishing can affect not just fish communities but the entire ecosystem, leading to major effects on reef processes (Callum M Roberts).

The shark that looks like it has a chainsaw on his head but actually belongs to the ray family is really rare but scientists have gained new insights on their habitat so they can help the "chainsaw fish" survive. They use their saw for hunting and also fighting with each other which is not understood why they do that.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven wonders of the world. It extends more than 1,300 miles through the coral sea off northeastern Australia and it is even visible from outer space. It is also home to more than 400 types of coral and 1,500 species such as the tropical fish, birds, dolphins, and reptiles. The reef is not only home to the coral but it is also breeding ground for humpback whales and a habitat for endangered species. The Great Barrier Reef was listed as a protected site by the World Heritage Trust in 1981 to help maintain it’s beauty allowing for tourists to keep wanting to visit, which greatly affects the economy in Australia and more specifically to keep the marine life alive. However, the reef is undergoing huge

The ever-intrusive crown-of-thorns starfish presents the Great Barrier Reef extensive angst. Under the severe bleaching conditions of the coral, the starfish suck out more key nutrients from the already ailing structures. In order to combat this outbreak, a management team oversees practices of injecting individual starfish in hopes of abating this huge population. Hand in hand, this practice and comprehensive research promotes the long-term goal of controlling the infestation, thus rehabilitating the coral reefs.

The increasing population of the Crown of Thorn’s starfish (COTS) is currently a hot topic, especially with regards to the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef. The COTS feeds on the living coral using its hundreds of sucking tubes within its arms, and its eating habits are not sustainable and too much coral is being consumed. This is a major contributor of the decline in coral cover at the Great Barrier Reef (Lucas, 2013). This is one of the main causes of coral cover decline along with cyclones, pollutant discharge from the land, coastal development and climate change affects. (The conservation 2012).

Apart from the threat of the mining industry the Great Barrier Reef is also threatened by the increasing water pollution through plantations and farms in Queensland due to a great use of fertilizers. The waste water that incur on these plantations are often flushed into the sea or get disposed there and therefore these waste waters have a direct impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Besides many toxins that are harmful for the inhabitants of the reefs and the corals the nutrients of the fertilizers enhance the growth of plankton and various species of algae which in turn increase the propagation of the crown-of-thorns starfish, which cause enormous damage in the reefs.1

The article The 27–year decline of coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef and its causes investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of coral cover, identifies the main drivers of coral mortality, and quantifies the potential rates of recovery for the Great Barrier Reef. Authors Glenn De’ath, Katharina Fabricius, Hugh Sweatman and Marji Puotinen express concern about the continued degradation of the ocean’s coral reefs. The question the authors are interested in answering is what is cause the degradation of the reefs. They explore the effects on the reefs from things such as coral predation by crown-of-thorns starfish, tropical cyclones and coral bleaching. One popular idea is that whole reefs have been destroyed by the crown-of-thorns starfish. The starfish is known to prey on coral and digest the surface of its living tissue from the coral skeletons. These skeletons are essential for reef integrity alongside with the mass of coralline algae. Tropical cyclones serve as another disturbance for the reefs. Studies show that coral breakage increases with maximum cyclone wind both inshore and offshore. On average about 5% of corals are broken on reefs at “22 cm s-1 winds”, while 50% are broken at the reefs with strongest winds (Fabricius, 2010). Coral bleaching is defined as the loss of intracellular endosymbionts from reefs coral through either way of expulsion and or loss of algal pigmentation. Bleaching happens when conditions necessary for sustaining coral 's

This helps increase coral diversity. However, outbreaks of this venomous invertebrate pose one of the most significant threats to the Great Barrier Reef. Perhaps highest on the list of dangers to the Great Barrier Reef is an inhabitant of the reef itself. The Crown of Thorns Starfish gains its sustenance from feasting on the polyps of coral, releasing neurotoxins to absorb the tissue of the coral and quite literally, “sucking the life” out of the reefs backbone. There impact can be catastrophic – many researchers believe that the current abundance of Crown of Thorns starfish could be a result of agricultural runoff which increases the amount of algae which serve as food for the starfish. The research estimates that if crown-of-thorns starfish predation had not occurred over the past three decades, there would have been a net increase in average coral cover (Bryce). Cyclic outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish occur approximately every seventeen years. There have been four documented outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef since the 1960s, with the latest starting in 2010. To minimize the impact of high numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish, short and long-term strategies are being used to address the current outbreak and minimize the impact of future outbreaks

Take a dive into the blue and venture in a world where after 450 million years of evolution these predators are still going strong. Some can reach speeds faster than speed boats and race cars, some are the size of whales, and some can live up to 200 years. These predators have no intention of going anywhere any time soon; learn more about these extraordinary creatures in the book “Sharks,” by: Michael Bright which can be found in the nonfiction, marine biology section of the library or bookstore near you.

It has been determined that the receptors, “nociceptors”, responsible for feeling pain in mammals are not only very rare but also almost absent in fish (Rose 2014). If fish lack the capacity to feel pain, there is no purpose in humanely fishing.

Known as ‘the largest living organism’, the Great Barrier Reef is an aspect of the world that has constantly left people in wonder. Being the biggest reef in the world, however, has not prevented a coral cover reduction of 80 percent (Bridge, Beaman, Done, & Webster, 2012). This ecosystem has been constantly overlooked and is now facing changes that are leading to the destruction of this unique environment. The Great Barrier Reef faces the challenges of climate change, invasive species, and human influence on a daily basis which has led to considerable damage to the world’s largest coral reef.