The Great Barrier Reef is literally being eaten alive. Deadly starfish are feasting on parts of the world's largest reef system, which is already threatened by rising ocean temperatures, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said. Crown-of-thorns starfish, a native species whose numbers occasionally grow so out of control they endanger the reef, have been detected on 37 sections of the southerly Swain Reef, more than 60 miles offshore, according to the park authority. Normally, the starfish contribute to the reef's diversity by eating faster-growing coral species, which allow for slower-growing species to thrive. But at outbreak levels, the starfish are able to eat coral — a polyp that builds the limestone reefs on which they communally live — faster than the coral can reproduce.
War takes toll on African wildlife
War is hell for wildlife, too. A new study finds that wartime is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinos, hippos and other large animals. The researchers analyzed how decades of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals. More than 70 percent of Africa's protected wildlife areas fell inside a war zone at some point since 1946, many of them repeatedly, they found. The areas with the most frequent battles — not necessarily the bloodiest — lose 35 percent of their mammal populations each year there's fighting, he said. Although some animals are killed in the crossfire or by land mines, war primarily changes social and economic conditions in ways that make it tough on animals, said study co-author Rob Pringle. People in and near war zones are poorer and hungrier. So they poach more often for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat, Pringle said. Conservation programs don't have much money, power or even the ability to protect animals during wartime, Pringle said.
Great white sharks visit Gulf of Mexico
Sightings of sharks off Florida coasts are as common as the tides, but not the great white — or at least, that's what scientists thought before they started tracking the animals. Three adolescent female great whites — given the names Katharine, Betsy and Miss Costa — have all made the journey to the Gulf of Mexico after they were tagged in New England starting in 2013, suggesting that great whites may be fairly common in these waters. Great white sharks can circumnavigate the globe 20 times during their lives, but generally stick to their home waters, said Gavin Naylor, director of the shark research program at the University of Florida.
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