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The Great Barrier Reef Coral Loss

By: Gift S.

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Research Question

What happened to the Great Barrier Reef and what caused

it to happen?

The Great Barrier Reef Facts

World’s largest coral reef

Northeast coast of Australia

World Heritage site

400 types of coral and 1500 species of fish

Many marine species are endangered

Lost about half of corals in last 30 years

Reasons why the Corals are Lost

1. Storm damage

2. Great increase of carnivorous ‘crown-of-thorns starfish’

3. Fertilizers

4. Coral bleaching

5. Greater amount of CO2 in sea

Crown-of-Thorns Starfish

Covered with long, sharp and venomous spines

Carnivorous

Adult starfish can grow up to 46 cm in diameter

Adult starfish can eat 6 square meters=12 months

Females produce 5-20 million eggs

Lived in GBR for thousands of years, but lately numbers have greatly increased

Blamed for 40 percent of the GBR loss

Facts• 2nd largest starfish in

the world• Most starfish have 5

arms, crown of thorns has 13-21 arms

• Nocturnal (Active at night)

• Can move at a speed up to 20 km per hour

Why the Crown of Thorns Starfish affected so much of the GBR and

increased over the past years

1. The females produce over millions of eggs

2. Fertilizers from the farmlands of Australiai. Eggs become larvae - larvae feed on

‘phytoplankton’

ii. Nowadays, more fertilizers near the sea get washed down to the sea

iii. Phytoplankton algae feed on the fertilizer chemicals = greater increase in the algae, more larvae survive and become adults

Solution for the Carnivorous Starfish

New substance scientists created:

1. Inject into starfish

2. Causes allergic reaction

3. Dies within 2 days

In 40 minutes, divers can inject 1000 starfish – 1000 crown of thorns starfish dies

Connections

Class work: • IDU – Water unit • Science – Biodiversity

and ecosystems unit

Global importance:• Species could grow

bigger, spreading over the globe

• Recently happened in Philippines, culled 87,000 crown of thorns starfish

Choices

When scuba diving, be aware of these species

Teach farmers to use organic fertilizers

Help reduce global warming

Bibliography

"Barrier Reef Starfish Cull." Newsademic. N.p., 1 May 2014. Web. 6 May 2014. <http://resources.nist.ac.th/mediacenter/Other%20Documents/Newsademic/Newsademic%20Issue%20222%20B.pdf>.

"Coral Bleaching." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Keppelbleaching.jpg>.

"Crown of Thorns Starfish." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 09 May 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Crown-of-thorns_starfish>.

"Crown of Thorns Starfish to Be Tackled." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/9593191/Crown-of-thorns-starfish-to-be-tackled.html>.

"Crown-of-Thorns Starfish." Great Barrier Reef Biome. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://great-barrier-reef-biome.wikispaces.com/file/view/crown-of-thorns-starfish-phuket-big.jpg/326805896/crown-of-thorns-starfish-phuket-big.jpg>.

"Diver Among the Corals." National Geographic. Ed. David Doubilet. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://s.ngm.com/2011/05/great-barrier-reef/img/great-barrier-reef-diver-615.jpg>.

"Fun Facts - Crown of Thorns Starfish." Fun Facts - Crown of Thorns Starfish. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. <https://sites.google.com/a/pennington.org/crown-of-thorns-starfish/fun-facts>.

"Great Barrier Reef." - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154>.

"Great Barrier Reef." Britannica Online for Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. <http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/24/19824-004-4BF0C660.gif>.

"Great Barrier Reef." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2014. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/GreatBarrierReef-EO.JPG>.

"How to Setup Different Types of Connections in Ozeki Phone System XE." OZEKIPhone SystemXE. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://ozekiphone.com/attachments/1424/connection.png>.

Johnson, Chris. "Getting Specific About Choices." Simplifilm Product Demo Videos. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://simplifilm.com/getting-specific-about-choices/>.

Nellist, Glenys. "Making Connections." Glenys Nellist: Kids' Ministry Matters. Blogger, 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WtgjsZJVQEg/TqWAXGnLcVI/AAAAAAAAAIU/RsLP4RxBTHI/s200/connections-2be414r.png>.

Siddle, Julian. "Killer Starfish Threatens Great Barrier Reef." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26183209>.

"Small Crown of Thorns Starfish." Trip Advisor. N.p., Aug. 2011. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/fc/99/56/small-crown-of-thorns.jpg>.

"Storms at Sea." Gems Canada. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://gemscanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/stormAtSea-300x201.jpg>.

"Variety of Chemical Fertilisers and Their Uses." B2B Market for Latest B2B Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. <http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mbPI_7jWVvw/T45mzzYZjQI/AAAAAAAAAzk/_kYsmkOaraU/s400/Chemical%2BFertilizers%2B1.jpg>.

"What Is Coral Bleaching?" What Is Coral Bleaching? N.p., 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 May 2014. <http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_bleach.html>.

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Interactive ActivitySplit into 3 teams & answer questions

Q1

Where is the Great Barrier Reef located? Give me north, east, south or west.

Q2

Since when did they lose their corals?

Q3

What is one reason for the loss of corals in the Great Barrier Reef?

Q4

Another reason, please.

Q5

What causes coral bleaching?

Q6

What color are the corals after coral bleaching?

Q7

Is the Crown of Thorns starfish a herbivore, carnivore or a omnivore?

Q8

What is the largest starfish in the world?

Q9

What is one choice we could make?

Q10

What country is my issue in?