Maldives 2022

The Gaafu Arif Atoll is situated in the south of the Maldive Islands. Opposed to northern atolls, the stone corals of this area have recovered from a serious bleaching event in 2015. It is notable that in many areas, the diameter of living Acropora corals is 40 cm, equal to a growth of five to six years. Other areas in the atoll had amazing fields of long, bizarre colonies forming reef tracts devoid of other coral species and very poor in fish and other marine life. The molluscan fauna encountered had a moderately large amount of species but a remarkably low number of individuals. We went to Funamadua Island on two consecutive trips with two months inbetween.