Another hard day at the office ! 🙂
Hello again, and welcome to my second blog, highlighting my work at Marine Savers on the island of Kuda Huraa (here’s last month, if you missed it). There has been lots to do during the busy high season, with many different projects and events throughout the month, and some fun activities too (including a morning dive as Santa!)
One of the main projects has been to relocate our Reefscapers coral frames at the Water Villa site, to prevent them being submerged by sand, as seasonal ocean currents cause large quantities of sand to shift around the island. This was no easy task, as many of the frames have large mature corals and are very heavy. We first began by using flotation devices to move the coral frames away from the jetty area of the water villas to an area where they could be loaded onto our boat. From here, we loaded up to 12 frames at a time onto the boat to be taken towards an area close to our house reef, where they can continue to grow.
There are endless photo opportunites in the Maldives … both above and below the water!
While moving the frames, we were reminded of the value of our coral propagation projects, as we observed an abundance of marine life living among the corals: humbugs, juvenile fish, octopus, mantis shrimp and brittle star, to name just a few! The marine biodiversity was incredible, and highlights just how important the coral propagation programme is at restoring our reefs, which act as crucial nursery habitats to countless species. Thanks to help from our Resort colleagues (and Aku from Landaa), we were able to save 249 ‘at risk’ coral frames from becoming engulfed by the shifting sands… a tiring yet very rewarding few days!
Sighting and photographing marine megafauna …
… is always a thrilling privilege on snorkel and dive trips.
After releasing two of our green turtles (Dexter and Wiss) during my first month here, their two siblings, Speedy and Taz, were now ready to be released. On 10 January, we took their final measurements and facial scute ID photos before releasing them at the beach in front of the Marine Discovery Centre, with a crowd of enthusiastic guests watching on. The turtles required a little encouragement to make their way down the beach, but once they reached the water there was no stopping them!
Release day for Speedy & Taz (Green turtle juveniles)
Swimming out of the lagoon into the big blue
Every day brings a new adventure, and this was emphasised during the festive season when we were unable to use our usual transport boat to drop the newly built guest coral frames at the house reef. After some quick brainstorming, we decided to use kayaks to deliver the frames. Once we arrived at the house reef, we lowered our ‘anchor’ (dive weights tied to a rope) and dropped the frames from the kayak, ensuring they landed upright. After some quick freediving to ensure they were arranged and mapped appropriately, we celebrated a unique and successful mission!
Our Festive Santa dive was great fun!
Rescuing our Water Villas coral frames was an epic team task!
I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to develop my photography skills (both underwater and above!), capturing turtle releases, wildlife on snorkels, and dolphin ID shots for our database. As part of my internship project, I have been creating social media content, particularly stories and posts for our Marine Savers Instagram.
I believe sharing the efforts being undertaken by the Marine Savers team and displaying the magnificence of environments that may not be accessible to everyone is crucial for establishing a stronger connection to our oceans and the richness of life that lives within them. It is also important that their threats are highlighted to emphasise the importance of marine conservation and preservation of marine ecosystems.
Watching dolphins swimming alongside our boat is always a thrilling sight!
Although my time as an intern at Kuda Huraa is coming to an end, I have accepted the exciting opportunity to work full time as Assistant Coral Biologist with the Marine Savers team at Landaa Giraavaru! I am looking forward to working towards the preservation of the coral reefs in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and contributing to all of our upcoming projects.
See you soon
Matt 💙
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