Coral reefs at Sabah’s Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in danger

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Coral reefs at Sabah’s Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park in danger following aggressive crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak

KOTA KINABALU, April 17 — While the city and parts of the state are fending off more Covid-19 infections, the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park here is facing an underwater outbreak of its own.

The dreaded crown-of-thorns starfish (CoT), a known aggressive coral predator, has been invading the park. The local dive community fear the park is in danger of losing its coral reefs and eventually, its diving industry.

“Large areas of our popular reefs are being destroyed right now. In three days, we have terminated some 150 or so of them, but there are many more, and we cannot possibly get rid of them all on our own,” said volunteer marine conservation group Dive Rangers’ founder Bob Hartley.

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