The majority of the damage to the reef is actually crown of thorns, and runoff from dredging / mining operations - not climate change. Definitely not building a port could have helped.
They are 25-30 cm starfish with up to 21 arms, and they damage the reefs. It does say that "warmer sea temperatures enhance larvae development", with this reference: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep08402
"An autonomous starfish-killing robot called COTSBot has been developed and as of September 2015 was close to being ready for trials on the Great Barrier Reef.[84] The COTSbot, which has a neural net-aided vision system, is designed to seek out crown-of-thorns starfish and give them a lethal injection of bile salts."
Also an issue in Florida: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/17/from-miami-t...
"Florida is home to the U.S.’s only living barrier reef and world’s third-largest coral reef system"
[1] https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/agriculture/sustainable-f...