Fish Lab & Aquaria – Marine Life in the Maldives
This month, we collected new specimens including one starfish and a small nudibranch for our Fish Lab, plus several new zebra damselfish were added to the display tank. New mollusc grazers are acclimatising to their environmental conditions, and will be added to display tanks in the coming days, to reduce levels of algae.
Plankton Production – Our plankton and algae cultures are used as the main food source for the residents of our Fish Lab.
– Algae – populations remain steady, to feed our juvenile fish and shrimps.
– Rotifers – population is stable, this month with an average concentration of 414 individuals/mL on average.
– Artemia – culture remains healthy, at sufficient numbers to feed our populations of fish and shrimps.
– Copepods – three tanks of copepods are being maintained, with stable numbers; feed is Nannochloropsis microalgae.
Jellyfish – Aurelia aurita
The new batch of jellyfish continues to grow well. Approximately 500 individuals have been introduced to our large 80 litre kreisel in our Fish Lab, which is being maintained with twice-daily partial water changes and a constant filtration system. Feeding has increased to 200ml of artemia twice daily. As these jellyfish continue to grow, they will be gradually added to the main display tank once they reach a large enough size.
Groupers – The grouper have continued to grow well, but have suffered 3 mortalities this month. The average individual weight has increased from 593g to 613g. The tank containing the larger fish continues to be fed once daily, while the second tank is fed every second day. The baitfish offered are weighed before and after feeding to estimate overall consumption by the groupers; the larger groupers consumed ~250g each per day, and the smaller groupers ~145g.
Sea Urchins – The sea urchin population remains stable and of great interest to the visitors to our Marine Centre.
Ornamental Fish & Shrimp Breeding
- Clark’s anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii) – There were 4 new batches of eggs laid by our breeding pairs during August, but we did not collect the larvae. [Lifecycle graphic]
- Maldivian Clownfish (Amphiprion nigripes) – One clutch of eggs was laid our breeding pair (uncollected); the pair in our main tank continue to care for their eggs laid by the anemone.
- Boxer Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus) – our male has now regenerated a replacement claw. The female carried two batches of eggs under her belly, but no larvae have been collected this month.
Fish Lab: Clownfish breeding-pair with anemone
Fish Lab: growing-out our juvenile jellyfish
Megafauna and Marine Life
During August, a total of 279 guest places participated in our marine trips and excursions out of Landaa. Poor weather and high concentrations of plankton in the water column meant that megafauna sightings in Baa were low this month, but we were able to record sightings of: hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus), spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari), marbled stingrays (Himantura uarnak).
Of the 9 Dolphin Cruises this month, we recorded 282 individual dolphins, mainly Spinners, plus 2 small pods of Bottlenose.
Landaa’s Marine Discovery Centre welcomed 147 visitors this month; in addition, we delivered our Coral Biologist training module to seven of our Four Seasons Apprentices, and the marine modules to four Apprentices.
Huraa School Visit
This month, we had the pleasure to welcome some students from the neighbouring loal island of (Bodu) Huraa. The school children brought great excitement to the Resort, with their enthusiasm and curiosity towards tourism practices. One of the most discussed topics was the intersection between marine sciences and hospitality, as they are currently enrolled on grade 10 of BTEC Hospitality. A few students were interested in returning as interns in a few years, so we hope to see them again in the future.
Inspiring the next-gen Marine Biologists (Huraa school, August 2024)
Maldives Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation
Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation
Ocean Enclosure
This month, we have had two turtle patients spend time in our ocean enclosure out in the lagoon at Landaa.
– Mariyam was transferred on 28 July, and spent a total of 27 days in the sea pen.
– Oekaashi was transferred on 9 August, and only required 13 days before recovering to a releasable state. Both turtles were present in the sea pen simultaneously and co-existed well after an initial adjustment period.
Unfortunately, the combination of inclement weather in the middle of August and the presence of barnacles on the floating inner ring of the sea pen resulted in damage to the net. For the duration of the stormy weather, we removed the shade covers to prevent tears caused by high winds and waves. Once the poor weather systems had passed, we returned to the sea pen to fix the damage; we untied the upper and middle supporting ropes to give us better access to the inner ring and cleaned it of epibiota, with a specific focus on barnacles using chisels and hammers. After this work was complete, we re-tied the supporting ropes, fixed the numerous holes, re-installed the shade covers and transferred Mariyam back out on the 26th of the month. She is currently doing well and is expected to be fully recovered and ready for release within the next few weeks.
Satellite Tracking
Gina was released back in 8 June with a satellite tag attached to her carapace. We received the last signal from her tag on 8 August, giving us exactly 2 months of satellite tracking data. Interestingly, after completing a full loop, Gina appeared to double back almost exactly on her original track, with her final few locations appearing to show a track beginning to return in a westerly direction after covering a total of 3,258km.
Ultrasound
We took delivery of our new waterproof ultrasound probe and utilised it for the first time. This technology will allow us to better evaluate new patients on arrival at our sea turtle rehabilitation centre, and to monitor ongoing progress. Using this probe will help us to assess the health of internal organs, while keeping patients in their tanks, thereby reducing stress associated with being taken out of the water. We also hope to assess the status of buoyant turtles through visualisation of air pockets, enabling greater specificity in targeting buoyant areas for external weight therapy.
Maldivian Sea Turtle Identification Program
During July, our ID project is currently on hold as we have been busy with record numbers of rescued turtle patients, and are currently at full capacity.
Spotted a turtle? Share your photos
Submissions consist of close-up photographs of the turtle facial profile, enabling us to outline the unique pattern of scales (scutes) that act like a human fingerprint.
REEFSCAPERS Coral Propagation & Reef Restoration in the Maldives
The global coral bleaching event has badly affected corals throughout the country, but there are increasing signs of recovery.
Our Reefscapers teams have had a very busy year, initially trying to mitigate against the effects of elevated ocean temperatures, and over these last few months, documenting the issues, surveying the damage, and re-transplanting dead frames with new coral fragments.
At Landaa this month, we transplanted 27 new coral frames, kindly sponsored by guests (15), the Resort (12), and online (0), adding 1185 new coral fragments to the reef. We monitored (cleaned, repaired, photographed) a total of 467 established coral frames at various sites around Landaa and Voavah.
At Kuda Huraa this month, our coral experts transplanted 8 new coral frames, and monitored and retransplanted more than 100 existing frames damaged by bleaching. We have also been continuing our extensive maintenance work around the island, following the damage caused by the global mass coral bleaching event.
Be sure to read our complete Four Seasons Team Diaries over on our Reefscapers, and browse our Climate Change page where we curate the latest global news reports from climate experts and marine scientists worldwide.
Further News & Updates
You might also be interested in:
– our ongoing Dolphin ID Project, our specialised Sea Turtle Lagoon Enclosure, and our Zooplankton Monitoring Project.
Looking for details of our Reefscapers coral propagation and reef restoration program ? Then head over to our Reefscapers Diaries for all the latest updates.
You can sponsor your own frame and see photographs (updated every 6 months) in our Coral Frame Collection.
Junior Marine Savers activities: (1) Reefscapers corals, (2) turtle care.
