Barrier Reef

ezee

ezee

Member
All,
I just saw a show last night on the science channel about how the Great Barrier Reef in Austrailia is being devoured by a specific type of seastar, the Crown of Thorns. The show discussed the impact of various factors in the possible/impending demise of that reef system. It was exciting because they used the exact same terms as we use in this hobby and I was able to get the gist before they explained certain concepts!

But let me digress. Apparently they have a huge excess nutrient problem from agricultural runoff and it is generating algae blooms that lead to mass numbers of these reef eating stars. They pay a "SWAT" team of divers to work, sometimes day and night, to kill these stars but I can't imagine they are making a huge difference. Well the question is, instead of paying people to kill the stars, couldn't they invest in large "scrubber refugium" type areas every 20 or so miles (or whatever works) loaded with various macro algaes and harvest the macro? Of course, there are logistical issues; overgrowth into other areas, getting enough "scrubbers" across hundreds/thousands or miles but it just seems like a better option.
Theoretically, at least.
Thoughts (especially people from Australia)? :thinking:
E
 
farmboy

farmboy

Active Member
Limiting the amount of fertilizer used by farmers seems like a more practical solution.

I would LOVE to see a big 'ole fuge, though! :joy:
 
E

eaglefan

Guest
a 20 mile fuge sweet

I saw the same show it was unreal the amount of stars the showed.
 
ezee

ezee

Member
Farmboy,
I agree with limiting the amount of fert (it was actually my first thought) but something deep within me tells me that it would become really political, really fast. Something about farmers losing net profits and political pull.

Eaglefan,
Can you imagine!!! a 20 mile fuge in front of all the major estuaries!!! That would be so cool! :joy:
 
farmboy

farmboy

Active Member
There are incintives in my area to build "feed barns" for cattle to help collect manure-especially in close proximity to waterways.
Another idea that could help may be large ponds/lakes downstream from farms of a certain size that would help filter the water before being sent on eventually to the ocean. These ponds could house fresh water plants to utilize excess nitrates and even be recycled by the farmer to irrigate fields (nitrate cocktail).

What about a 30% water change?
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
I wish I would have seen that program. Sounds interesting..
In a related story, wonder how much they pay those divers? Can't imagine getting paid to dive the GBR. Where do I apply...
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
That reminds me about something I heard from the past. Not sure about the details but I think it was like 30 years ago in california where they were killing sea urchins because they were eatting all the kelp.. or maybe it was killing all the kelp which endangered the seaurchins.. It seems to me that nature tends to fix its own problems, even the ones we humans cause...
Although getting paid to dive and kill seastars sounds like fun....
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
Originally Posted by Shnabbles
cant they just catch and sell the stars? :notsure:
They said some of the bigger ones get to be the size of a car tire. Not many aquariums can handle that.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
They should find a way to harvest the stars and use them commercially. They would be gone very quickly if they could make a profit off of them :p
 
ezee

ezee

Member
Supposedly they have toxic spines and there are about 4 million of them on that particular reef.
E
 
hopkins6

hopkins6

Member
If these are the same stars i'm thinking of, (black spikes), then they i think only have one natural predator. The predator is a type of snail that actually climbs on the snail (including the thorns), and eats it from above some how.
 
hagfish

hagfish

Active Member
They actually mentioned a few predators in the show. They just aren't effecient enough to make the necessary impact. To of the predators were the harlequin shrimp and some sort of large snail.
 
escape2thewater

escape2thewater

Active Member
I saw the show too, actually recorded it on my DVR, very cool show. I think it is one of those "Blue Planet" series shows. Its crazy that there are so many of those startfish that only eat SPS corals! Thats there total diet! Also the part about how just one mating pair of those stars can produce enough offspring to "Fill, not cover" the great barrier reef in just one year!

Escape
 
ryan115

ryan115

Member
I watched a video on the problems that reefs are facing around the world. This guy went for like 40 days doing like 2-3 dives/ day to different reef systems around the pacific trying to find out why they were dissapearing. He even made some dives down to deep reefs about 300' down :scared: But another problem besides the algae that they found was run off. The rivers were bringing so much sediment out that it was covering all of the corals. Think about taking your tank and dumping a bag of powdered aragonite in there right now, i think that would just about do it. I really would love to get to research on some reefs, i am about to graduate with a degree in marine biology and going to grad school next year. Anyone know where i can sign up
:hilarious
Hey Jert, the reason they were trying to control the number of urchins in california was because they had been killing off the otters which would feed on the urchins. The fishermen and trappers would kill the otters which leads to more urchins which leads to less kelp and in the end a barren area with nowhere for the fish to hide
 
shoreliner11

shoreliner11

Active Member
I watched the same show. It is a bit over-sensationalized (if thats the right word). Yes there is a very real problem with crown-of-thorns sea stars but they are a naturally occuring species. Currently the last major outbreaks were in 1998(maybe 1999 can't remember) and 2002. In the past outbreaks of seastars were hundreds of years apart. It is not just a nutrient problem but over fishing/harvesting of its natural predators has had an impact on the numbers of crown-of-thorns. Very good informational show to watch but it gets annoying when you can tell they're saying things to sound dramatic which aren't entirely true. I'm going to Australia to study Marine Biology for a good 6 months in Feb., so hopefully I'll learn a bit more about the current situation while I'm there.
Aaron
 
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