Hi everyone. I’m Beth, Seamarc’s intern at the Marine Discovery Centre, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa. During my three month placement, I will be fully immersing myself in the life of a resort marine biologist, and taking part in all the island projects.
During my second month on the island I have been helping out with the Reefscapers coral propagation programme. In this project fragments are collected from healthy coral colonies on reefs around the island. These fragments are then transplanted onto steel frames that have been painted with food grade paint and then blasted with sand whilst this paint was still wet. I have learnt more about the coral species found in the Maldives, their growth forms and their success rate when transplanted onto frames. With this knowledge, I have been out to collect fragments by myself and have built frames with the help of the guests that have sponsored them.
Once the frames have been planted in the sea they have to be monitored every six months in order to check their health and growth. Any fragments that have not survived the transplantation are removed and replaced with new fragments, and photographs are taken of each side of the frame to be uploaded to the internet for guests to view. I have helped Matt the coral biologist here at Kuda Huraa to monitor frames around the island.
- Coral Frame KH1524
- Coral Frame KH0391
- Coral frame KH0477
As well as working with the coral, I have been leading snorkels and dolphin cruises for guests as part of the marine biologist’s role and helping with the care of the turtles in the facility for both the head start and rehabilitation programmes.
Recently we have had three Olive Ridley turtles brought to Kuda Huraa for rehabilitation. The first turtle we received was Shareefa; she had been entangled in a ghost net and her shell had been rubbed through to the skin on the right side of her body, she also had deep lacerations on many of her flippers. When she first arrived, Shareefa was very buoyant and could not dive properly; this is now improving and she is able to stay on the bottom of the tank and search for food. The damage to her shell is healing slowly along with the lacerations on her flippers. We are hoping she will make a full recovery and will be released soon.
The second turtle we received for rehabilitation was Maria the Olive Ridley. Maria was in a much worse state on arrival than Shareefa, and had lacerations on all of her flippers; the ones on her back flippers were extremely deep. Unfortunately the damage to her rear right flipper was so extensive that we had to perform emergency surgery to remove it and prevent infection spreading further around the body. Maria will be with us for a very long time to allow her injuries to heal; she is still unable to dive and is finding it hard to eat due to sores on her tongue.
Buddy was the final turtle we have had recently for rehabilitation. He was found during our dolphin cruise on 10 March. We noticed him from far away and watched him for a while to make sure that he wasn’t just resting on the surface. He was trying very hard to dive but was unable to do so as he was very buoyant in the water. Hannah (my marine biologist colleague) and I jumped into the water and brought him to the boat where the crew helped to haul him aboard. His front right flipper is missing but is completely healed so we think he must have been rehabilitated before somewhere else. Buddy has no other obvious injuries so will be with us until he is able to dive again.
- Olive Ridley Turtle ‘Buddy’
- Buddy
- Shareefa
- Maria
It is not just turtles that we have received for rehabilitation; we have also had 16 new Green hatchlings brought to Kuda Huraa for our Head Start Programme. All 16 hatchlings are doing well, they are all eating lots and are very active. They will stay with us until their carapace length is 30cm at which point they will be released into the wild; at this size they will have a higher chance of survival in the ocean.

Turtle Hatchling through glass

Do you want to experience life as a marine biologist
here in the Maldives ?
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