Whole populations of turtles were brought to the verge of extinction by hunting them down for their valuable shells and meat. But despite now being protected, a new threat has begun to surface. The site of baby turtles hatching and raising for the sea may soon be a distant memory. Over the last few decades, evidence of our influence on the reef has become all too real. 

 

Marine biologist, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, is on the frontline to protect it. Today he’s come to look for one of its greatest enemies, a single creature with the power to destroy the largest reef in the world.

 

"Relatively, small changes in the conditions can cause some species to actually expire, and one of those is the Crown-of-thorns Starfish."

 

This evil-looking animal grows up to 3 feet across. It’s covered in sharp, venomous spines, and its favorite food is coral. They can descend on the reef in their millions, swarming over it and eating it alive.  

 

"Like all starfish, it has the amazing ability to exude its stomach, trys feeding at this hole here, digest the coral and then suck up all the goodies, leaving essentially just the skeleton."

 

This starfish is capable of producing 6 million children every year. Normally very few survive. But now man has tipped the odds in their favor. Fertilizers from inland farms have washed down from the rivers onto the reef. They made the perfect nutrient for the baby starfish, and their numbers go through the roof. The population can explode to 2000 times its normal level.