Ancanthaster planci, or Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTs), are renowned for their periodic plagues on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and their destruction of corals globally. Subsequently, the COTs have contributed dramatically to the decline in coral cover in the Indo-Pacific region. From a scientific perspective, the COTs pose significant problems which are exacerbated by the ‘waxing and waning’ of public and political interest. Research funding, and publications, usually spike following an outbreak of COTs. This phenomenon is most salient in the case of the GBR. This adds a curious cultural and social element to the starfish’s history. This paper will discuss the first outbreak of COTs on the GBR in the 1960s when scientific and public interest first emerged. When the starfish appeared on the GBR in the 1960s, it prompted curiosity and concern. It signified a possible imbalance within the GBR’s environment and forced some to consider how something so small could destroy something so large. However, as publicity of the starfish grew, and the ‘Save the Reef’ campaign developed, claims of the damage caused by the COTs and the figures who made them were met with scepticism and derision.