Crown of Thorns Starfish and the Great Barrier Reef update
The Great Barrier Reef¹s problems are multi-factoral and involve a wholecast of animal, and human characters. One of the animal cast is the Crown of Thorns Starfish, or seastar, which has the latin moniker of Acanthaster planci. They’re huge and prey on stony, coral polyps. The inspiration for the name comes from the venomous thorn-like spines that cover its upper surface, resembling the Biblical crown of thorns. It is one of the largest sea stars in the world.
Surprisingly it is native to the Indo-Pacific region and it’s eating up our most valuable natural resource, which is home to 10k species, and attracts 1.6 million tourists a year, generating $6.2 billion dollars, and providing 63K jobs.
On the line this morning wehad Bec Roberts from the University of the Sunshine Coast, who’s in her final year of her PhD at the GeneCology Centre.
Producer: Liane Colwell
