The deceivingly beautiful creature that you see in this photograph is destroying one of our earth's most valuable natural habitats.The Crown of Thorns Starfish feeds on the hard coral that is vital to the foundation of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. In the past number of years, the population of these animals has grown so largely, that they are destroying coral at a much faster rate than it can recover.
The Crown of Thorns Starfish is a natural part of the ecological system in the area. However, with the chemicals introduced into the water by farming and the removal of the animal's natural predators by over-fishing, the population has skyrocketed.
The rate at which these animals are destroying the reef is quite alarming.
There is not an easy solution to this problem without further affecting the ecosystem. Currently, there is a program which employs divers that patrol the reef. The divers use the Starfish's own venom, injected in each of its legs, to destroy the animal. This process is extremely unefficient because of the rate at which the population of the animal grows.
Discovery HD Theater aired an excellent documentary on the subject, entitled "Predators of the Great Barrier Reef", that provides lots of information and high quality footage of the reef. You can also find more information on the subject by going to the control program's website - here.
