Four Seasons Team Diaries: July 2025

At Landaa this month, we transplanted 25 new coral frames, kindly sponsored by guests (8), the Resort (17), and online (0), adding ~1050 new coral fragments to the reef. Frames were planted at “Plankton”, a site located near Charlie’s Head, where they will be frequently seen by divers. We also monitored (cleaned, repaired, photographed) ~250 sponsored frames, mainly at our Dive Site and Coral Trail.

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.

Recycling & Retransplanting

In the aftermath of the April 2024 global mass bleaching event, which resulted in significant coral mortality across our reefs and reefs worldwide, we have launched a targeted recovery initiative focused on clearing and recycling degraded frames. The primary aim is to streamline our restoration efforts by removing frames that no longer support viable coral and making space for future planting with more resilient species.

As part of this effort, we have been systematically identifying and stacking frames that are covered exclusively with dead coral. During this process, we’ve encountered some frames that have attracted natural coral recruits – healthy colonies that we did not attach. These slow-growing massive and encrusting species, are excellent candidates for propagation, not only because they withstood the high temperatures of last year, but also because of their structural contribution to reef building. Read more over on our dedicated microfragging page at Marine Savers: Microfragment Techniques in Coral Propagation.

Staff Beach Frames

In early July, we began a new initiative by placing Resort-sponsored coral restoration frames along the staff beach (seaward from the wedding pavilion). This location was chosen to give our Resort colleagues the opportunity to observe and enjoy some of our local coral species during their snorkels.

Before placement, we identified a few environmental concerns specific to this site. The shallow waters at the staff beach tend to be consistently warm, frequently exceeding 29°C. Additionally, the presence of a sea wall may limit the natural circulation of water. Because of these factors, we have been closely monitoring the coral frames since their deployment. In particular, some of our Acropora colonies have begun to exhibit early signs of thermal stress, indicated by a noticeable shift in colouration toward bright fluorescent hues (photo). This fluorescence may precede bleaching if conditions do not improve.

Pocillopora are generally regarded as more thermotolerant than Acropora, potentially making them better-suited for high-temperature, low-flow environments. By observing how different species respond under the same conditions, we hope to gain insights into coral resilience and refine our planting strategies. Our goal remains twofold: to enhance staff engagement with the reef, and to continue learning how different coral species adapt in various microhabitats. This ongoing monitoring will inform future planting decisions and may help identify local coral genotypes with greater tolerance to thermal stress.

At Kuda Huraa this month, our coral experts transplanted 5 new frames, kindly sponsored by guests (4), the Resort (1), and online (0). In addition, we monitored and repopulated 67 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

We continued to encounter a decrease in corallivorous gastropods, with only 31 individuals of Drupella spp. encountered this month. Consistent efforts from the team to remove Drupella from transplanted corals at our restoration sites as well as the natural reefs seems to be resulting in an overall decrease in predators throughout the year. We collected four crown of thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) from the wild Montipora digitata patch behind the channel restoration site over a two-day period. No corallivorous starfish were encountered at the water villas, blue hole, or the house reef this month.

Reef Maintenance

We have been conducting maintenance on all four restoration sites around Kuda Huraa: the blue hole, the channel, the water villas, and the house reef. Work on the house reef has been largely limited by unfavourable weather conditions, so the majority of our efforts were focused on ensuring the sites accessible from the beach are maintained and monitored. The few times that weather conditions permitted access to the house reef, we continued maintenance of frames located at Maw’s Rock, Noah’s Rock, the Pyramids, and the Christmas trees.

At the channel site, our frames continue to be threatened by both algal overgrowth and seasonal sand movement. Recent storms have unfortunately impacted the health of some colonies of Pocillopora spp. at this site, as well as some fragments of Porites cylindrica. All frames have been cleaned, dead fragments replaced, and the site has been monitored. During this time, our apprentices not only learned how to snorkel and free dive, but also gained valuable experience in coral restoration and being a part of this ongoing project. By the end of the month, they had learned how to identify Porites cylindrica, collect fragments, and transplant them to frames independently.

Frame Relocation – Water Villas

We relocated all frames in the water villas to a deeper area without the overgrowth of wild Montipora digitata. At the previous location, the tops of the frames emerged at low tide, and Montipora digitata was beginning to encrust onto the legs of the frames and outcompete our transplanted corals. Relocating the frames to this new area also allows us to better showcase our work to guests as it is much easier to see the frames. We have also continued transplanting fragments of Montipora foliosa in amongst the Montipora digitata to increase the biodiversity of the rapidly expanding natural reef here.