Crown of Thorns
- Thread starter andy51632
- Start date
firerescue
Member
I was in Hawaii and seen the crown of thorns while diving. Very cool but very destructive. We found a giant triton and well since they like to eat them we took it to it. It was amazing to watch it eat it.
1journeyman
Active Member
Dove the Barrier reef out of Port Douglas 3 years ago and again last year.
Snorklers and bad divers do more damage than Starfish, trust me.
Snorklers and bad divers do more damage than Starfish, trust me.
bang guy
Moderator
Those starfish are perfectly natural. They eat vast amounts of corals and then when they starve off the corals come back.
I think the way they are trying to erradicate the starfish is actually keeping them from starving. They're just regulating the herd.
I think they should look at them just like a forest fire. Controlled grazing around the perimiter and then let them burn themselves out after they eat all the coral inside the perimeter.
I think the way they are trying to erradicate the starfish is actually keeping them from starving. They're just regulating the herd.
I think they should look at them just like a forest fire. Controlled grazing around the perimiter and then let them burn themselves out after they eat all the coral inside the perimeter.
andy51632
Member
From what I can tell they are screwed. The nitrogeous waste that is used in farming is washing down the rivers to the reef. The Crown of Thorns uses this waste when they are in the larval form. By having all this excess waste the normally weak larva have a very high success rate. It is like 90% higher.
The crown of thorns is heavily infested in the northern sections of the barrier reef. Journeyman did you dive in the southern sections which have not YET been affected.
Also crown of thorns used to be good for the reef because they would eat the faster growing corals allowing for the slower growing corals to get a foothold. Now they are so infested that they are completely destroying all the corals.
And your right when they run out of food they will die but they will continue to eat until there is no food left which equals no barrier reef.
This worries me because I have yet to see a coral reef in person. I have heard they are amazing. Hopefully man does not destroy it before I do.
The crown of thorns is heavily infested in the northern sections of the barrier reef. Journeyman did you dive in the southern sections which have not YET been affected.
Also crown of thorns used to be good for the reef because they would eat the faster growing corals allowing for the slower growing corals to get a foothold. Now they are so infested that they are completely destroying all the corals.
And your right when they run out of food they will die but they will continue to eat until there is no food left which equals no barrier reef.
This worries me because I have yet to see a coral reef in person. I have heard they are amazing. Hopefully man does not destroy it before I do.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by andy51632
The crown of thorns is heavily infested in the northern sections of the barrier reef. Journeyman did you dive in the southern sections which have not YET been affected.
Nope. Port Douglas in North of Cairns. NE end of Australia.
A couple of things to realize about the GBR. There are many gaps in it that will slow a wide spread infestation of anything. It's not one long continuous reef, but rather thousands of smaller ones.
Also, it's a ways from shore. While this doesn't make it immune to shore hazards, it does help. Typically from Port Douglas it can be an hour or more boat ride. I'd guess at least 20-30 miles from shore.
The crown of thorns is heavily infested in the northern sections of the barrier reef. Journeyman did you dive in the southern sections which have not YET been affected.
Nope. Port Douglas in North of Cairns. NE end of Australia.
A couple of things to realize about the GBR. There are many gaps in it that will slow a wide spread infestation of anything. It's not one long continuous reef, but rather thousands of smaller ones.
Also, it's a ways from shore. While this doesn't make it immune to shore hazards, it does help. Typically from Port Douglas it can be an hour or more boat ride. I'd guess at least 20-30 miles from shore.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by Tuna Dan
As Darwin stated Survival of the Fittest. Nature is fine on it own without human intervention.
As the original poster stated, however, some reefs are being damaged by human activity. That is in effect "human intervention".
As Darwin stated Survival of the Fittest. Nature is fine on it own without human intervention.
As the original poster stated, however, some reefs are being damaged by human activity. That is in effect "human intervention".
tomtoro
Member
I've seen that show twice now. I don't understand why they go through the trouble of injecting them with the starfish's own acid or venom into each arm instead of just collecting them and destroying them elsewhere.
I would think since it's usually somewhat shallow, they could use a large 'vacuum' hose from the boat once they're 'unhooked' from the staghorn. I've seen this used before on the DSC for samples.
Leaving 1500 a day to rot, seems like more nutrients. Although, maybe a drop in the bucket compared with the farmer's runoff.
I would think since it's usually somewhat shallow, they could use a large 'vacuum' hose from the boat once they're 'unhooked' from the staghorn. I've seen this used before on the DSC for samples.
Leaving 1500 a day to rot, seems like more nutrients. Although, maybe a drop in the bucket compared with the farmer's runoff.
ophiura
Active Member
Crown of thorns seastars are a normal, natural predator on these reefs.
Their primary predator, the triton trumpet snail, is/has been harvested for the shell trade in large numbers. It is a huge snail (it is a huge star) and takes a long time to grow.
There are normal cycles in nature...at times reefs may be dominated by algae, and fast growing corals...when grazers are low. When there are a lot of grazers, slower massive corals may dominate. Taking cores through fossil reefs, often these phases are very clear. They may occur naturally, or may be the result of human activity or "doing the right thing" interference without understanding what we are doing. People can make the "wrong" decisions because they feel that certain animals are nicer, prettier, and others are mean.
A classic example is the urchin Diadema that used to be in huge numbers on Caribbean reefs. They had several setbacks, including a few hurricanes, but several decades a go a mysterious disease seemed to wipe out huge numbers. They are not longer anywhere near as common as they once were. And as a result, many carribean reefs are dominated by fast growing corals, and algae (this is not to say there are no massive slow growing corals...)
With Acanthaster, the crown of thorns, there are normal cycles of survival. But as noted, there is a major issue with run off of nutrients from farming and logging practices. This results in increased success of the larvae, and ultimately, adults.
I am typically wary of human intervention at the stage they are doing it. The real focus, money and effort needs to be put into changing the nutrient input. In and of itself it can be a problem to reefs. I think the effort is slightly misguided, though short term and localized, it probably works in areas. But I think they need a somewhat different long term plan.
Their primary predator, the triton trumpet snail, is/has been harvested for the shell trade in large numbers. It is a huge snail (it is a huge star) and takes a long time to grow.
There are normal cycles in nature...at times reefs may be dominated by algae, and fast growing corals...when grazers are low. When there are a lot of grazers, slower massive corals may dominate. Taking cores through fossil reefs, often these phases are very clear. They may occur naturally, or may be the result of human activity or "doing the right thing" interference without understanding what we are doing. People can make the "wrong" decisions because they feel that certain animals are nicer, prettier, and others are mean.
A classic example is the urchin Diadema that used to be in huge numbers on Caribbean reefs. They had several setbacks, including a few hurricanes, but several decades a go a mysterious disease seemed to wipe out huge numbers. They are not longer anywhere near as common as they once were. And as a result, many carribean reefs are dominated by fast growing corals, and algae (this is not to say there are no massive slow growing corals...)
With Acanthaster, the crown of thorns, there are normal cycles of survival. But as noted, there is a major issue with run off of nutrients from farming and logging practices. This results in increased success of the larvae, and ultimately, adults.
I am typically wary of human intervention at the stage they are doing it. The real focus, money and effort needs to be put into changing the nutrient input. In and of itself it can be a problem to reefs. I think the effort is slightly misguided, though short term and localized, it probably works in areas. But I think they need a somewhat different long term plan.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by ophiura
.....I am typically wary of human intervention at the stage they are doing it. The real focus, money and effort needs to be put into changing the nutrient input. In and of itself it can be a problem to reefs. I think the effort is slightly misguided, though short term and localized, it probably works in areas. But I think they need a somewhat different long term plan.
Well said. They are fighting the symptom, not the problem.
.....I am typically wary of human intervention at the stage they are doing it. The real focus, money and effort needs to be put into changing the nutrient input. In and of itself it can be a problem to reefs. I think the effort is slightly misguided, though short term and localized, it probably works in areas. But I think they need a somewhat different long term plan.
Well said. They are fighting the symptom, not the problem.
fishy head
Member
when i went diving i saw a few,,,very cool to watch