Taramea
A crown-of-thorns sea star, called taramea in Māori, has broken out on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, which could endanger the survival of the surrounding coral reef. Local environmental organisation Kōrero O Te `Ōrau is tackling the outbreak by training young Māori people in deep-sea diving and carrying out expeditions to remove taramea from the reef.
Every Saturday, a group of Cook Islands Māori youth get into diving gear, grab sticks and head to the reef around the island to dive for invasive taramea. When the divers spot one of these coral-consuming predators underwater, they slide their stick under it to pry it loose and bag it up. This is by no means an easy task as adult taramea grow to 25-35 centimetres and are densely covered in sharp, poisonous spines.
Marine biologist Teina Rongo says the starfish normally maintain biodiversity by keeping more dominant coral at bay so that other coral can grow. The cause of the increase in the crown-of-thorns sea star is largely due to nutrients from agriculture and sewage discharges and the decline in the sea star's natural enemies.
When the diving is done, the team land their catch. Later, they bury the starfish as manure in gardens. Not only have they removed more than 6,500 coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish from the reefs since 2020, Operation Taramea has also made the young divers passionate about the ocean.
