Coral-eating starfish outbreaks may be driven by both the land and the deep sea

A "perfect storm" of conditions combining upwelling from the deep with run off from the land may be driving crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef. In new research from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, scientists detected larvae of the destructive coral-eating starfish deeper than ever before, indicating they have access to enhanced food sources at those depths.