The world-famous long stretch of white beach in Boracay is free from the spread of crow-of-thorns starfish after all. Fearing that an outbreak of the dreaded starfish (Acanthaster planci) on its reef ecosystem may constitute a threat to Boracay's tourism industry, local government officials of Aklan requested the help of the aquaculture department, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (Seafdec AQD) in Tigbauan, Iloilo, to conduct a survey and recommend measures to arrest the spread of the starfish.

Boracay free of starfish, say marine scientists. (2000, January 12). Today, p. 4.