What if it isn’t a threat but a citizen?
The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is a so-called threat to our coral reefs but also an ancient species.
It’s been living here for millions of years and chewing on our reefs ever since, so why is it destroying our ocean and reefs now? And why is it now worse than ever?
How did the reefs protect themselves from the gluttonous, spiky critter all those years?
And a question I keep coming back to: Is the Starfish just the modern version of the shark? Sharks have a bad reputation for various reasons, but they are badly needed to keep the ocean strong and healthy, just like wolves on land. Reintroducing wolves to the wild has shown remarkable results and an incredible ecological chain reaction of positive impact. So with this in mind, back to the ocean and its starfish: is the solution more obvious than it seems, are we simply missing the apex predator, or is it something else?
“All these questions formed after witnessing the purple critter with my own eyes. I wasn't prepared! When I laid eyes on it, I was excited, stunned, and wanted to scream, grab it with my own two hands, and swim away with it.”
The Spotting
30x42 cm
Acrylic on Canvas
2026
Nothing prepares you for the moment when you meet your dream come true.
Gasping for air, I didn’t even know that it had been my dream. As a kid, I was scared of the ocean - well, not of the ocean but of what might be under the surface. Now that I can see, much has changed. I'm trying not to scare it off with harsh movements. With my eyes, I am scanning it, trying to keep every detail locked in mind cause one day I will paint this stunning, perfectly imperfect purple blob, with its thousands of spikes, onto Canvas - it may take a million brushstrokes. Still, this is the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Somehow, this moment reminds me of how we used to travel and navigate with those old maps on the side of the road. You view it once, lock it into your mind as well as you can and somehow the memory of it will lead you home. Anyway, it's hiding behind the colourful assembly of corals and not easy to spot; let me get closer.
I created the artwork with the intention of showcasing the first time I encountered one and that the preservation of this species is of particular importance.
I was stunned by its sheer beauty and how it seemed to glide through the water with sleekness. It was so delightful to watch that years later, I keep it in mind as an everlasting moment of perfection and sheer beauty.
• Paper thickness: 0.26 mm (10.3 mil)
• Museum-quality matte paper poster
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• ISO brightness: 104%
• 21 × 30 cm posters are size A4
A Stunning Encounter and many more prints, inspired by the ocean and years of ruthless adventures that are the source of the art by Stella Weis are viewablehere in the print catalogue.
Back to our story of the startfish and how it all started:
It's a great morning - warm, the sun is out, the waves crash smoothly, it's 8 o’clock, simply as beautiful as can be. Final checks: “200 Bar, weights, fins, mask - good!” We gear up and head towards the boat. The engine runs, pushing it through the water. The captain points somewhere nearby and says, “Kador Bay,” a shallow dive site full of Coral; it reminds me of a garden beneath the surface, colourful and vibrant, endless yet fragile.
The first breath through the regulator is the most satisfying one! We backroll off the boat into the warm water, the sign to the captain:
“I am ok.”
Signal to descend!
The air flows out of our BCDs; we sink into magnificence. A shallow breath followed by another deep one; we slowly descend. There, a shadow of a Humphead welcomes us in the distance; a shoal of fish passes by: tiny yellow ones; I don't know their name, but we enjoy their company anyway.
Our dive guide leads with two others on his right and left through the reef; my buddy and I follow. With my eyes, I scan the ocean floor and corals for nudies; they must be hiding, and I'm thinking we might get lucky later today.
My gaze lifts to a massive purple, spiky blob. Am I wrong? Is my memory playing a joke on me? I try to get my guide's attention by clapping my right fist into the left hand to make a sound, but I fell back too far, and he is busy checking on one of the divers' BCDs.
This purple, spiky blob I saw in a documentary just a week ago. It eats coral! Its name? Crown-of-thorns starfish it chews on coral all day and can move about 20 m a day, it is indeed a threat to our reefs.
I can't believe I am witnessing this beast with my own eyes, drawn in by the creature that is eating our reefs. It sucks the life out of it, but also calls it its home here in the warm waters of the Chinese Sea. It looks like a purple crossbreed of a hedgehog from under the surface and a starfish. Its body has long spikes - venomous; a critter you better not mess with. It moves on floppy, spiky legs that are quite short for such a tall creature. Somehow it's exceptionally captivating.
One last look, I take this strange creature all in, and off I dive. Lucky it hasn’t gotten to the Seafan Allee, yet.
A dive-through within the massive Seafan Allee is where we navigate to. Those corals are taller than me and measure about one and a half meters in width; a size I haven’t seen anywhere else but here in Tioman, Malaysia.
Signal to ascent!
Later, I learn more about these stunning creatures from local divers. The crown-of-thorns starfish is indeed a resident but in recent years too many have multiplied. Natural predators, which are the Napoleonfish, Pufferfish, and Triton's Horn Snail, are absent.
I also learned that those animals are injected one by one to keep the numbers under control, simply to save our coral reefs from dying. Too many have been around in recent years, and their predators are missing, which might be on us! Are we overfishing the oceans? Are we threatening the wrong species? Will a clear yes to both questions make any change?
Created by Stella Weis the paintings are indeed inspired by the beautiful sights under the surface. Some are available as original works created with acrylic on canvas, and some as a print version - available at the
Click Pic and Travel Art Shop
