Coral Propagation – Monthly Progress
At Kuda Huraa this month, we transplanted 12 new coral frames, kindly sponsored by guests (five), the Resort (three), online orders (two), and media (two).
At Landaa, we transplanted 32 coral frames, kindly sponsored by guests (21), the Resort (eight), and online (three), using a total of 1858 coral fragments. In addition, we monitored (cleaned, repaired, photographed) 273 coral frames at various sites around Landaa Giraavaru. We also lifted four large coral frames from our Al Barakat site, and recycled them using 150 coral fragments. As part of the festivities, we recycled a Christmas tree frame and deployed it at the House Reef site along with three heart-shaped frames.
🗓️ Reefscapers 2022 Annual Coral Statistics
- At Landaa, 4,158 coral frames were monitored, and emails were sent out to all of our kind sponsors linking to their latest frame photographs. 374 new frames were created (using 22,146 fragments) plus 60 frames were recycled (2,310 fragments) giving a total of 24,456 coral fragments replanted back onto the reef.
- At Kuda Huraa, 1,205 coral frames were monitored, and emails were sent out to our sponsors linking to their latest frame photographs. 141 coral frames were created, and a further 577 frames were recycled. A total of 7,775 fragments were added to the reef, from 25 species representing five different genera.
Coral Spawning (see also: our indepth reporting)
This month at Landaa, we started nightly snorkels around the full moon period (8 December). We observed spawning in five frame colonies of tenuis. Several days later, we observed spawning in 18 frame colonies of plantaginea.
At Kuda Huraa, we set our own new record this month for the greatest amount of coral spawning recorded! We witnessed 153 colonies (of eight species) spawning over three nights, across four locations.
🗓️ Reefscapers 2022 Coral Growth Analysis
Using our in-house AI technology, we analysed growth, mortality, and coral volumes, for small coral frames across both Kuda Huraa and Landaa. This revealed steady increases in volumes of both Acropora and Pocillopora species from 2017 to 2022.
- Acropora growth increased from 3,000 litres to 6,000 litres during 2022.
- Pocillopora growth increased from 10,000 litres to 15,000 litres during 2022.
- Survival rates: Acropora 86%, Pocillopora 80%.
- Acropora thrive along reef slopes (Dive Site, Blu Deep, Anchor point).
- Pocillopora thrive in shallow water, exposed to wave action (Coral Trail, Parrot Reef, Turtle, Water Villas).
Coral volume increase 2017-2022
Coral mortality 2017-2022
Coral growth rates 2017-2022
Read our Reefscapers Diaries for further details and photographs of our ongoing coral propagation efforts and reef regeneration experiments, both in the Lab and out in the lagoon, updated each month. You may also be interested in our ongoing research and photography, studying coral spawning.
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