Sea Day - Day 58

The Great Barrier Reef & Its
Insatiable Starfish
Stretching for more than 1,400 miles along
Australia's coast, the Great Barrier Reef is home to a staggering array of marine life. Contrary to popular belief, it is not one coral reef but as many as 2,900, all blanketed on the ocean floor among 600 tropical islands and 300 cays. One-third of the planet's colorful soft corals and about 360 species of vibrant hard coral thrive here, drawing all manner of rainbow-colored fish eager for a nibble.
A multi-hued universe of untold beauty lives beneath these waters.
One of the most common predators in the Great Barrier Reef patrols the ocean floor in silence: the crown-of-thorns starfish. It measures up to 14 inches and boasts up to 21 arms. These primordial-looking creatures prey on hard coral, sometimes to devastating effect. Once it is clinging to the coral, it suctions onto its prey and expels its stomach through its mouth to cover a surface area equal to its own diameter. The enzymes it releases allow it to liquefy the coral and take in its nutrients. One starfish can destroy 65 square feet of reef each year.
To the forgiving eye, crown-of-thorns starfish may be pretty to look at-some of them sporting bright colors themselves meant to deflect predators. But the many spines on their bodies (from which they get their name) deliver a venomous toxins, which also make them dangerous to the marine life that might prey on them, and on curious humans.Read more