THE spiky Crown-of-Thorns Starfish, with its durian-like surface, may be an interesting sight underwater but the creature also preys on the corals in our oceans.

About 100 volunteers took part in the recent Redang Clean-Up Day at the Berjaya Redang Beach Resort to help remove these predators from the coral reefs around the island.

According to Reef Check Malaysia general manager Julian Hyde, coral reefs are important because they are home to 33% of all known fish species and they protect the coasts from wave erosion.

Reef Check is a non-profit organisation that surveys the reefs in Malaysia and keeps tabs on how healthy they are.

During the three-day event, divers went underwater armed with steel forks to pick up the Crown-of-Thorns and nets to put them in.

They also picked up plastic bottles, food containers and other rubbish found around the dive sites.

On land, non-divers helped to clean up the beach on the island by picking up trash left behind by irresponsible holidaymakers.

Action on the shore: The non-divers helping to clean up the beach.

Henry Wong, 42, feels that it is imperative that people should know about the importance of saving corals.

“By doing clean-ups like this, we can make people aware about conservation,” he said.

Diver Eric Ewe, 47, takes part in clean-ups at least once a year as a way to give back to the sport that he enjoys.

First-timer James Chan, 31, found the experience of picking up Crown-of-Thorns an interesting one and is looking forward to participate in the clean-up again next year.

Local celebrities like Elaine Daly, Jehan Miskin and Azura Zainal also joined in the clean-up.

Jehan, 29, has had more than 100 dives but it was his first time joining a reef clean-up.

	Gotcha!: Participants of the Berjaya Redang Clean-Up Day picking up a Crown-of- Thorns Starfish, which is harmful to corals.

“It’s been quite educational. I thought I came here to pick up rubbish but ended up picking a lot of Crown-of-Thorns,” said Jehan, who is one of the lead actors in the drama series Frontpage, which is currently aired on Sunday nights on ntv7.

Hyde cautioned that divers could do a lot of damage to corals without realising it.

Simple things like not touching corals and not dragging their fins on the corals could make a big difference.

“They could start with having good buoyancy control. Some people just don’t realise that they’re not good divers. It’s down to individuals to recognise their responsibility,” said Hyde.

“Diving is such a big sport. People do it and they fall in love with it but they must realise that they can damage corals, so they should be more aware when diving,” said Jehan.

Courtesy from The Star Online