Crown-of-thorns starfish is the second largest starfish in the world, reaching 55cm in diametre. They are voracious predators -- each starfish eats 10m2 of coral per year -- and have few natural predators. Hussain Thaufeeg, Managing Director of Silver Sands which caters diving and water sports to several resorts, emphasised the need for swift action to negate the threat posed by the starfish. He also echoed concerns by experts that an outbreak could threaten the tourism industry, which accounts for almost half of the country’s GDP. "This is a matter of national concern. We cannot ignore this," Thaufeeg said. Government-run Marine Research Centre had earlier confirmed reports of a large scale crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak in Male region since May. Such a massive outbreak was seen before only once, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Outbreaks, according to experts, may exceed 1,000 animals per hectare, destroying an entire reef system in a matter of weeks. Thaufeeg said six divers from the resort had been involved in the operation. "As the starfish is poisonous, we injected vinegar to each one before taking them," he explained. The company has added five more divers to scour the reefs of the other islands in the Atoll. Thaufeeg expressed hope that the sheer numbers found in one reef would now grab the attention of the government. He urged the relevant government authorities to swiftly address the danger. The worst outbreaks had recently been observed in North and South Male atoll and Ari Atoll. Meanwhile, Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, which claims to have been contacted by dive operators, local NGOs, government agencies and resort managers to provide immediate assistance to characterise the impacts and to remove crown-of-thorns starfish from affected reefs, had said its team of experts would be in the Maldives from October 16 to November 2 to launch the Starfish Control and Removal (SCAR) programme. The programme will, according to the foundation, provide baseline data on the current status of the reefs, the health of associated corals, motile invertebrates and fishes, and impacts from localised and global threats, with emphasis on impacts from crown-of-thorns starfish and relationships with the recent coral bleaching event. The experts are scheduled to undertake large scale crown-of-thorns removals from the reefs they visit around several resorts in Male region.