Be sure to read our monthly updates from Marine Savers – direct from our resident teams at
the Marine Discovery Centres at Landaa & Kuda Huraa – our long-term partnership with Four Seasons Resorts Maldives.
Landaa Giraavaru
At Landaa during May, we transplanted 26 new coral frames, kindly sponsored by guests (9), the Resort (11), and online (6), adding ~1200 new coral fragments to the reef. Frames were planted at “Mudakaashi Reef,” a site located near Charlie’s Head, where they will be frequently seen by divers. We also monitored (cleaned, repaired, photographed) sponsored frames at all sites around Landaa Giraavaru.
To see the progress of your own frame, please visit our dedicated Four Seasons monitoring page where we upload new photos every 6 months or so.
Coral Spawning, Maldives (May Full Moon)
We performed monitoring night snorkels around the Full Moon period (12 May), covering known bundling and spawning times of various genera. One colony of Galaxea fascicularis (pictured) was observed bundling and then spawning on 2 subsequent days. Interestingly, this particular colony was previously recorded spawning in 2024 in March.
Kuda Huraa
At Kuda Huraa this month, our coral experts transplanted 5 new frames, kindly sponsored by guests (3), the Resort (2), and online (0). In addition, we monitored and repopulated 38 growing coral frames.
To see the progress of your frame, please visit our dedicated Four Seasons monitoring page where we upload new photos every 6 months or so.
Coral Predators
Similar to April, we have observed a significant decrease in the number of coral predators recorded, despite dedicating time to locate them. It is unclear whether this is due to seasonal fluctuations in abundance, extensive efforts taken to control populations, or a combination of the two factors. The size of Acanthaster plancii individuals encountered also appears to be decreasing.
Coral Relocation – Noah’s Rock
A month after the relocation of corals from Ras Malé to Noah’s Rock on our house reef, all colonies seem to have adapted well to their new environment. Corals that were paling due to relocation stress have since regained their symbionts, with only a few colonies of Acropora hyacinthus remaining slightly pale. Due to the storm knocking colonies from frames, a few colonies of Pocillopora have unfortunately died; however, the majority are in great condition. Despite only being planted one month ago, most fragments have already attached to the frames and encrusted over their cable ties.
Coral Bleaching in the Maldives, 2025
Corals of the Acropora and Pocillopora genera have continued to bleach this month. All Acropora fragments in the water villas are bleached, including the genotype experiment frame. The fragments on the genotype experiment frame in the channel have all died, and the majority of Pocillopora colonies at this site are bleached, with the remainder showing fluorescence. With most of May having had stormy weather conditions, there has been a significant amount of sand movement at all sites which has amplified the stress to corals. As new frames are being outplanted at >5m depth on the house reef, most fragments on new frames have retained their symbionts. Some mature colonies of Acropora tenuis at around 3m are paling on the house reef, but otherwise, corals at this site seem to be coping with the seasonally increased water temperatures.
Biodegradable Cable Ties
One of the most common questions we are asked at Reefscapers concerns our use of plastic cable ties to attach coral fragments, when plastic pollution is causing so much damage to ocean ecosystems globally. The quick answer is they are the best, by far, at securing the corals to the steel bars. We have been unable to find anything that comes close to the performance of the standard plastic cable tie.
To answer further, we should explain that the ties are actually overgrown by the corals which ‘encrust’ onto the steel bars, so the small plastic strips soon become encased and do not break down into microplastics. Having said that, we continue our search to find a suitable sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to using plastics. Since 2022, we have been documenting our ongoing progress on our project page: Study Into Sustainable Cable Ties.
Coral Reproduction & Spawning
During the May full moon, unfavourable weather conditions only allowed our team to conduct spawning research on one night, when we observed five colonies of Acropora spawning. Subsequent gamete checks performed after the weather improved revealed that all colonies recorded with pigmented oocytes had spawned during this window.
