divEr 20boat, I immediately saw a beautiful reef of
hard corals below.
Getting closer, however, exposed
another story. I swam down to a massive
table coral, and found that half of it was
white and the other half covered by at
least 15 crown-of-thorns. These predatory
starfish feed on coral polyps and have
venomous thorns.
In small numbers it’s likely that they
support the reef by killing off sick or weak
corals and making room for new, stronger
corals to grow, but occasionally they have
huge outbreaks, and their large numbers
can then be detrimental.
From a few metres above, this reef
appeared fantastically healthy, but
looking closer it seemed that the starfish
might be destroying it right before my
eyes. Tom had been near this site a week
earlier and was concerned.
Starfish regenerate, so they must bekilled completely or they can come back
as multiple stars. He was armed with
syringes and vinegar, which is thought
to kill them without harming other
marine life.
I ended the dive feeling sad about this
remote and rarely dived location. What if
these outbreaks happen in other locations
no one sees? How can we fix it? I felt a bit
hopeless about the state of the world’s
reefs, but was impressed by the efforts of
one person, trying to protect this reef.Above, clockwise from
top left: Squeezing through
tight passages in the
Coolidge; ‘The Lady’; gauge
panel; in the engine-room;
a row of toilet bowls;
munitions lying on the hull.Above centre: One of the
etched-glass light fittings.Below: Crown-of-thorns
starfish on the reef.more than 75 years under water.
My computer showed that our planned
bottom time was pretty much up, so we
ascended and swam over the hull heading
towards our deco stops.
The Coolidge’s demise occurred on 26
October, 1942. The captain was not given
information about the minefield in the
channel approaching Santo, and the ship
struck a mine near the engine-room, and
another near the stern.
The captain ran the ship aground, and
the crew of more than 5000 managed to
flee before she sank 90 minutes later. Only
two lives were lost.The Reef
Taking a break from the Coolidge, the next
morning we headed out for two reef dives.
The lush, green island of Santo looked
spectacular during the 45-minute ride
under blue skies. Back-rolling off theVANUATU DIVER
☛