September was so full of activity! 🏃♀️From large presentations to local island visits, from egg-laden coral colonies to interviews with global TV crews 📺 … we didn’t have a spare second to come up for breath! 🤿
Luckily, we are a bunch of all-rounders, able to sub for each other in excursions and projects, so the upcoming coral spawning season will be all hands on the reef, day and night! 🌞 🌙
Come down to the Fish Lab to meet our Shrimps! 🦐
We have been expanding our Shrimp breeding program over recent months, and now have residents from five different family groups. We are studying and documenting the morphological differences between the different Shrimps, their eggs, and larvae, and hope to develop protocols to successfully breed them in our dedicated marine aquaria.
We have a packed report for you this month, direct from our teams of marine biologists at Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru.
Join us down in the Fish Lab, to look at marine life in our aquaria and under the microscope, and come along to a Symposium and Festival to learn about our latest coral research work.
And we launch our new 📢 Turtle Hotline 📞 for injured and stranded sea turtles.
My time as a Reefscapers marine biology intern has come to an end in the Maldives, but I still have some adventures to share!
I continued caring for our sea turtle patients, made new coral frames with guests, swam with mantas in Hanifaru Bay, and encountered hundreds of dolphins. 🐬
Thanks everyone at Marine Savers, for embracing me as part of their team, and for all their patience and knowledge shared. 👋
Join our Reefscapers coral biologists on their scientifically fascinating and colourful journey! 🧡
Our teams have experienced a busy few months researching coral spawning here in the Maldives. Take a closer look at our unique macro photographs, and read how we collected coral eggs from our frames, to successfully grow coral polyps in our laboratory aquarium.
We are going batty this month! 😁 Pop down to our Centre to meet our 2 baby orphaned fruit bats.
Meanwhile, we have checked off a few more items from our to-do list… from training new apprentices to coral frame formations; hatchling expeditions to local outreach, and more!
As we foster new connections, we believe that anything is possible… and hope we can inspire you to believe that, too. 🙏
Enjoy a video tour of our facilities, and learn about some of our marine conservation projects. 🐢
Simon welcomes you to our Marine Discovery Centre at Landaa Giraavaru, then Aku shows you around the Fish Lab. 🐡
You will also meet Kat (our turtle veterinarian) and Margaux (coral biologist) before joining Helen (marine biologist) on a cruise, taking photos for our Dolphin ID project. 🐬
Read Kat’s Diary, to find out what it’s like to be a veterinarian working in the Maldives!
Firstly, every day is different … we treat Olive Ridleys rescued from entanglement in ghost nets (discarded fishing gear), Hawksbills covered in barnacles, and Green turtles unable to dive below the water surface.
Recently, we’ve even been caring for two orphaned fruit bats! 🦇
My first month in Landaa went by so fast, and I’m back to tell you about my recent adventures. 🤿
I have started to lead snorkel and dolphin tours for the guests… my favourite activities include taking photographs of the dolphin fins for our ID Project. 🐬
Many Spinner dolphins later, I’ve been able to improve my photo skills, and now I even have a dolphin with my name! 📷
‘Teamwork makes the dream work’ is our monthly mantra! 🧘
It’s fun to have many hands underwater each day – transplanting corals, monitoring frames, and guiding snorkel trips (angry triggerfish aside!) 🐟
We all have individual responsibility to save this planet through our choices and actions, and together we achieve even more. 🤝
Our small team is but one drop in a vast ocean … 💧
Environmental enrichment is the practice of adding objects and other stimuli to the surroundings of captive animals to encourage them to express natural behaviours. Enrichment aims to improve quality of life and promote positive animal welfare by providing both mental and physical stimulation.
In our latest study, we aim to find out how our turtle patients interact with various diverse types of environmental enrichment.
May was a beautiful month, with both hot sun ☀️ and humid storms ⛈️ and we’re ready to embrace whatever the wind blows our way … good times ahead!
Many of the guests we interact with are on a marine mission to see megafauna! But sharing our passion for the tiny miracles in the sea is what really sets our souls on fire – a clownfish and its fluffy anemone, or the tiny polyps in a coral fragment. 💙
Hi, I’m Mônica, the new marine biology intern. Sea turtle conservation is one of my passions, and taking care of the turtles is one of my daily tasks here at Landaa’s Rescue Centre.
We currently have 5 patients, 3 Olive Ridley’s, an adult Hawksbill and a small Green turtle. Unfortunately, 3 of them cannot ever be released back to the wild due to permanent injury caused by entanglement in ghost nets.
Like an ocean dive with poor visibility, it can sometimes be hard to focus our work, so we concentrate on things that can make a real impact on the ocean. Our team works so well because we excel in both the office and the ocean, recognising that some calm water days might have sudden swells!
“Just as a wave is a movement of the whole ocean, you are the energy of the cosmos. Don’t underestimate your power.” – Deepak Chopra
So much has happened every single day this month, from a turtle nest rescue to epic guest excursions, to spending hours underwater transplanting corals… we are tired but wired! ⚡
We are truly blessed to call the Indian Ocean our home, rebuilding the reefs, focused on the moment when life becomes our playground. We are optimistic that all our new corals will thrive in these beautiful waters, expanding the biodiversity of the reefs. 💙
Our Reefscapers coral propagation program creates artificial reefs to extend the natural habitat for myriads of reef fish and countless invertebrate species.
Catch up with news of our Maldives sea turtle ID program, and meet our rescued sea turtle patients.
Then join us behind the scenes in the Fish Lab to learn about seahorses and jellyfish.
Updates from our resident marine biologists at Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru.
This month, we release our Green turtle patients from the beach, and our tiny coral polyps continue to thrive, as part of our pioneering spawning work.
Then join Helen down in the Fish Lab, to learn about our breeding projects for fish and marine invertebrates.
Join our Reefscapers coral biologists on their scientifically fascinating and colourful journey! 🧡
Our teams have experienced a busy few months researching coral spawning here in the Maldives. Take a closer look at our unique macro photographs, and read how we collected coral eggs from our frames, to successfully grow coral polyps in our laboratory aquarium.
Hello, I’m Helen. I work in the Fish Lab at Landaa Giraavaru, managing the aquariums and looking after all the fish and marine invertebrates. 🐡
After being stuck in the UK during the pandemic, coming to the Maldives to spend every day in the sea and sunshine was an absolute dream … surrounded by amazing marine life, both out in the open ocean and among our fish breeding tanks. 🐠
Our dedicated Coral Biologists keep you up to date with all the latest news and photos direct from our Centres at Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru.
Read how our coral reef propagation project is progressing in 2022, and see our latest hands-on experiments studying resilience to coral bleaching.
