Crown of Thorns are a threat to the reef in American Samoa

Sean Felise and Peter Taliva'a are lifting up a cage with more than ten crown of thorns during a dive at Taema Bank on March 20, 2013.  Thanks to boat captain Herbie Umi for operating the boat.  Good Job for helping the reef of American Samoa DMWR.  Keep It Up!

Reefs Bleached by Crown of Thorns

This is a photo taken at Taema Bank on March 18, 2013 by Alice Lawrence.  The white patch is where the crown of thorn was at before it was removed by  Peter Taliva'a during a dive.  There were Fifteen crown of thorns that DMWR staffs removed during this dive.  This is an effort that the department is doing to help American Samoa's Reef.

Crown of Thorn Survey

Sean Felise and Tafito Aitaoto are measuring the width from the longest arm to the other in centimeter and counting the legs.  Three fishermens brought in 145 crown of thorns from Tafuna near the airport on August 22, 2013.  Fagamalo, Fagasa, Masausi, Lauli'i, Taema Bank, Nu'uuli, Airport, Maliu Mai and Fogama'a are villages or sites under the crown of thorns removal effort.

What is a Crown Of Thorn?

Crown Of Thorn (Acanthaster planci), is a large starfish that varies in color and can have 10 to 25 arms with the top body covered with venomous spikes.  They live on the reefs and lagoons and they are nocturnal feeders meaning they feed during night time.  Crown of Thorn feed on coral polyp and can kill coral colonies in short period of time.  Each female can produce up to 60 million eggs with a single spawning season.