Ambitious coral restoration efforts are underway across the atolls of the Maldives with the help of some hands-on guests.
Almost all of your corals have doubled in size.
No, this wasnt some sort ofLittle Mermaidcosplay.
Corals at Soneva Fushi.Credit:Daniel Bichsel/Courtsey of Soneva
In the Maldives, coral is everything.
It supports the fish that people eat.
It protects beaches from erosion.
Diving near Velaa Private Island.Courtsey of Velaa Private Island
Its the very ground underfoot and the foundation of the economy.
And, unfortunately, the reef is in trouble.
We saw massive walls and pinnacles of corals shaped like boulders, fans, and antlers.
Corals near Velaa.Courtsey of Velaa Private Island
Schools of blue triggerfish and five-striped bass streamed down their sides.
Moray eels and groupers peeked from their crevices.
Sharks and rays glided by.
Coral gardens, left, and overwater bungalows at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru.Markus Gortz/Courtsey of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Napoleons stopped at grooming stations to have their anvil-shaped heads nibbled on by tiny gobies.
And a zillion other colorful, oddball fish went about their business on the reef.
Markus Gortz/Courtsey of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
But all of that was at 60 feet down.
A Reefscapers project at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru.Courtesy of Reefscapers
Closer to shore the picture wasnt as rosy.
You know what bleaching is?
Coral is an animal, like humans.
The villas at Soneva Fushi.Dan Kullberg/Courtsey of Soneva
When its too hot, it dehydrates.
And thats just as problematic for coral as it would be for people.
When overheated, coral expels the colorful single-celled organisms that live on it.
Reef fish near Velaa.Courtsey of Velaa Private Island
Climate change has made these periods both more frequent and hotter.
We tied 15 fragments to the frame.
Regis Maldives Vommuli,where Reefscapers just launched a new nursery.
We have to plant as many corals as possible and we cant do that by ourselves.
Then she pointed out some metal adoption tags tucked amid coral hillocks swarming with fish.
These robust swaths of reef had grown from fragments like the ones I had planted.