Coral is seriously damaged by crown-of-thorns starfish (Photo courtesy of Nguyen Van Gioi) Binh Thuan (VNS/VNA) - During a dive on a small island off the coast of Binh Thuan province, Nguyen Van Gioi and other tour guides were able to see hundreds of poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish , which are coral predators. “When diving to look at coral reefs on Hon Tranh isle, we saw crown-of-thorns starfish seriously devastate the coral reefs,” said Gioi, a tour guide on Phu Quy Island in the south-central coastal province. He and other tour guides on the larger island of Phu Quy decided to set up a team "to catch these poisonous crown-of-thorns starfish to save coral." According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, crown-of-thorns starfish are marine invertebrates that feed on coral and occur naturally on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and when conditions are right, they can reach plague proportions and devastate hard coral communities. The institute’s research has revealed that crown-of-thorns starfish are a major cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef. These starfish can grow to over 50 centimetres in diametre, and one individual can consume over 13 square metres of coral reef per year, according to the New Heaven Reef Conservation Programme’s team in Thailand. When Gioi and other members of the team have free time, they go to Hon Tranh isle to catch crown-of-thorns starfish. “In one day, we can catch nearly 500-700 starfish. We often catch them in summer because the water is warm for diving,” Gioi said. Compared to the past, more and more crown-of-thorns starfish are appearing because of an imbalance in the marine ecosystem, he said, adding that starfish predators such as giant triton snail and sea urchins are overfished on the island to serve tourism. Sea urchins play a critical role in maintaining the balance between coral and algae. Nguyen Trong Tan, another member of the team, said: “Diving to see coral …
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