MFI and Taytay Community Reef Watch Team collect COTs from Rakit Rakit Reef

Malampaya Foundation, Taytay Eco Divers and Reef Check Philippines collected three cratefuls of Crown-of-Thorns (COT) starfish (Acanthaster planci) at the Rakit Rakit reef in west Taytay, site of the Malampaya Sound Protected Landscape and Seascape in Palawan. The COT infestation was discovered during a survey dive to carry out an assessment of the reefs in the core zone of the protected area by the Reef Watch Team for Taytay recently established by Malampaya Foundation with support from Reef Check Philippines.

COTs are known to be voracious predators of corals and can devour hectares of corals if left alone. One COT starfish is capable of grazing one square meter of contiguous hard coral per day.