Divers cull 380k starfish to protect reef

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has told a Senate estimates hearing that about 380,000 crown of thorn starfish have been killed.

380,000 crown-of-thorn starfish have been culled on the Great Barrier Reef over the past two years. (AAP)

The federal government has destroyed 380,000 crown-of-thorn starfish on the Great Barrier Reef over the past two years.

Under the management program, divers manually inject the coral-feeding starfish with bile salts to kill them off and stop the coral being devoured quicker than it grows.

The Great Barrier Reef has suffered an starfish outbreak since 2010, with research showing the animals are responsible for about half of all coral decline on reefs.