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420 - On the trail of the coral-killing starfish
December 2012
Acanthaster planci is the principle natural enemy of reef-building corals. Outbreaks of this coral-feeding starfish occur periodically, due to reasons that remain unclear. It decimates entire reefs in the space of just a few years, as has been the case in French Polynesia since 2004. A new study conducted by IRD researchers and their partners( 1) describes this population explosion around Moorea, the “sister island of Tahiti”( 2). The rate of living coral cover in ocean depths and lagoons alike has dropped from 50% (healthy reef) to under 5% in 2009. The ecosystem will need at least a decade to be restored to its original state.
