Hello Explorers

Time for another one of my Stories of Hope

Remember this starfish?

 

If you recall from a previous post, Ocean Acidification and rising sea temperatures are making it easier for the crown of thorns starfish (COTS) to multiply. And COTS love to eat coral…

This video (above) nicely summarises the COTS crisis and even talks about how pollution contributes to their population growth (honestly more detailed than I could have been)

After watching the summary, you might be thinking, is anyone doing anything about this? How do we control the COTS?

I would propose to focus on species recovery of the Giant Triton snail, Helmet snails, Wrasse, triggerfish – all of the natural predators. They are the best at “pest control”. Unfortunately these guys are currently overharvested for various reasons.

But until a more natural, long term solution can be found. Scientists are resorting to short term solutions like the one in the video below:

While the approach is harsh (first video also has a short snippet of harvesting of COTS), it is necessary to protect what’s left of the reefs.

What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments!