A campaign to rid the waters of the world-famous tourists island of Boracay in Aklan of crown-of-thorns (COT) starfishes in on. Since last year, some 10,000 COTs have been manually gathered by local dive shop operators, who started the campaign to eradicate the dreaded starfishes when a COT outbreak was observed late last year. Known in the science world as Acanthasier planci, the crown-of-thorns starfish is a spiny-skinned "echinoderm." according to the Tigbauan, Iloilo based Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC AQD).

Fernandez, R. A. (1999, September 27). Boracay waters being rid of coral-devouring starfishes. The Philippine Star, p. 18.