Crown-of-thorns starfish cleared from Leyte reefs

TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE, Philippines — To prevent further damage to coral reefs in Southern Leyte, personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) joined local divers in removing some 1,300 crown-of-thorns (COT) starfish from the waters off Barangay Himay-angan in Liloan town. The large-scale injection and extraction activity is part of the PCG’s iCare Program, a