The International Year of the Reef 2008 is sponsored by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), which is a partnership among governments, international and nongovernment organizations to preserve the coral reefs and the ecosystems worldwide.

Programs will be established in Thailand’s southern and eastern provinces this year to promote public awareness of the need to protect the region’s amazing coral reef ecosystems. Damage from tourism is a significant challenge being faced by reefs in these locations along with recent signs of crown-of-thorns infestations. Similar programs are being launched in 40 other countries to celebrate the International Year of the Reef 2008…

It’s About Awareness.
Wannakiat Thubthimsang, director of Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), which comes under the Marine and Coastal Resources Department, announced that the campaign will focus on provinces that are home to diverse coral reefs, such as Phuket, Satun and Chumphon.

A major event is planned in Phuket in early May when a report on the current state of Thai coral reefs will be released to the public as well. It’s goal is to create public awareness about how sustainable management could limit the tourism industry’s impact on fragile marine resources, Wannakiat explained.

A New and Different Threat.
Reefs in the Krabi province are facing a new danger from the growing population of crown-of-thorns starfish, a coral eater. These aggressive starfish are also feeding on coral in Phuket and Satun waters. A team of divers has been sent to collect the starfish from affected coral sites. The divers have removed over 240 crown-of-thorns in a two-rai area near Panva cape in Phuket and over 60 near Koh Similan off Krabi.

More About Crown of Thorns Starfish.
The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a starfish with thorn-like spines sprouting all over its body for protection. They grow to a diameter of up to 40 cm across and have 12 to 19 arms extending from their centre.

If accidentally touched or stepped on by humans, the starfish’s long spines (which release a neurotoxin) are capable of pricking and stinging, inflicting great pain that can last for hours, as well as nausea and vomiting.

The starfish is a coral reef predator (a corallivore) and preys on the coral polyps by climbing onto them, extruding its stomach over them, and releasing digestive enzymes to then absorb the liquefied tissue. They feed alone at night, maintaining a constant distance between themselves and other crown-of-thorns starfish. During times of food shortage, these creatures can live on their energy reserves for over six months.
Source: Bangkok Post

The following are some amazing facts about the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish. Did you know that…

- An individual can consume up to 6 square meters of living reef per year.

-It ingests coral polyps by climbing onto them, extruding its stomach over them, and releasing digestive enzymes to then absorb the liquefied tissue or “polyp soup”.

-Divers kill these predators by injecting the starfish’s own stomach acid into each of their many legs.

-If even one leg is missed the sea star can live on.

-They feed alone at night.

-These starfish maintain a constant distance between themselves and other crown-of-thorns starfish.

-As they eat coral they secrete a chemical which attracts more starfish to the area.

-Spines in sediments from fossil reefs (dating back some 3500 years) prove that they have been an important part of reef life ever since.

-In humans, stinging by 10 or more spines may result in vomiting which can recur every few hours for several days (if the victim suffered multiple wounds, apart from getting very itchy, the whole limb may stiffen, and swell).

-It’s chief predator is the Pacific triton (a marine snail).

-These creatures have also been observed to eat each other!

-It would appear that crown-of-thorns starfish generally prefer to feed on staghorn and plate corals.

-Crown-of-thorns starfish do not walk on their arms but rather on a large number of tiny tube feet which occur along grooves extending underneath each arm.

-Only the larval stage of the starfish is capable of swimming

-Over sand they move as fast as 20 m per hour, while over areas of high live coral cover it may be as slow as 0.25 m per hr.

-The most effective control method is to inject starfish with a concentrated solution of copper sulphate.

For the fourth consecutive year, The Dive Atlas of the World retains its top spot in the SCUBA Travel list of bestselling diving books and DVDs. A surprise entry at number three is a guide to the Italian island of Sardinia - a very popular diving destination last year. Another new entry is Shipwrecks from the Egyptian Red Sea, by Ned Middleton. Perhaps the best performer though is the Blue Planet DVD. This has not been out of the top ten since the list began in 2001…

Here are the top ten: (Note: figures in brackets show the previous year’s position)

1. Dive Atlas of the World: An Illustrated Reference to the Best Sites by Jack Jackson - 300 pages detailing some of the world’s best dive sites. (1)

2. Dive: The Ultimate Guide To 60 Of The Worlds Top Dive Locations by Monty Halls, Describes 60 of the world’s best diving areas, and highlights specific dives not to be missed whilst you are there (2)

3. Sardinia (Lonely Planet Regional Guides) by Paula Hardy - Complete, practical regional guide for independent travellers. Includes dedicated activities chapter including the best dive spots.
(–)

4. Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World, by Tim Ecott - Tales of the characters and episodes in the history of diving: the sponge divers, the second world war saboteurs, the free divers, etc. (7)

5. Coral Reef Guide Red Sea (Coral Reef) by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers - Covering jellyfish, corals, nudibranchs, starfish, sea urchins, fishes and turtles of the Red Sea. (–)

6. Dive in Style by Tim Simond, An illustrated book combining the best of travel, lifestyle and nature photography (4)

7. Coral Reef Fishes: Indo-Pacific and Caribbean by Ewald Lieske, Robert Myers, A compact, guide to over 2000 species of fish you might see whilst diving on coral reefs. (3)

8. Lonely Planet Diving & Snorkeling Baja California by Walt Peterson - Guide to the dive sites of Baja California. (–)

9. The Blue Planet DVD, The BBC television series on DVD - action shots of the intriguing behaviour of the underwater world with commentary by David Attenborough. (9)

10. Shipwrecks from the Egyptian Red Sea by Ned Middleton - Eight years of research went into this accurate and definitive guide to the wrecks of the Egyptian Red Sea. (–)

Source: Newswire