Scientists may have answer to coral reef killer

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Scientists may have answer to coral reef killer

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    Marine scientists may have found a way to deal with the dreaded crown of thorns starfish, which can destroy coral reefs. “A Crown of Thorns outbreak can destroy from 40-90 per cent of the corals on a reef,”says Dr Jairo Rivera Posada. “Over the past 50 years, it has caused more damage than bleaching.” But now researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University have discovered that a harmless protein mixture used to grow bacteria in a laboratory can destroy the starfish in as little as 24 hours. If tests show it is safe for other sealife, their breakthrough could yield a dramatic improvement in the ability to control starfish outbreaks. And it’s none too soon. A  new outbreak  is well underway on the Great Barrier Reef. Story here.

    Keith Elliott
    Keith Elliott
    Editor and publisher of Classic Angling magazine. Founder member of UK Angling Writers' Association and current chairman. Former winner of Writer of the Year. I wrote a weekly angling column for The Independent for 23 years, having previously written columns for The Guardian and Sunday Mirror. If it swims, I'll fish for it: marlin or mackerel, trout or tench, salmon or snook. I've written several books on fishing, from one for the Duke of Edinburgh's award to the notorious Catchmore Sharks (don't look at the pictures) and Bob Nudd's autobiography, How to be the World's Best Fisherman. I love exotic travel for fishing (been to Mongolia and Ecuador, the Great Barrier Reef and Arunachal Pradesh) and wish I could afford to do such trips more often. My favourite fish? Anything with fins, though I have a special love for mahseer, and I’m Founder and former Chairman of the Masher Trust.

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