Four Seasons Team Diaries: November 2025

At Landaa this month, we transplanted 23 new coral frames, adding ~1000+ new coral fragments to the reef. New guest frames were outplanted at our “Plankton” site (to be seen by divers) and new Resort frames located at the Water Villas (for guest interest). We also monitored (cleaned, repaired, photographed) ~159 coral frames, mainly at our Bissie’s Reef site.

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 Cookies … Small wins !

Back in November 2023, gametes were collected during a coral spawning event and settled within our Fish Lab coral tanks. In November 2024, the coral team outplanted them back on to the reef on cement ‘cookies’. This November 2025 celebrates 2 years of growth and 1 year back on the reef! (photos, above).

Coral Spawning

During the November full moon, a multi-species mass coral spawning event was observed around Landaa, marking a significant ecological milestone for the local reef system. Our team documented the spawning of branching Acropora species alongside several massive and encrusting coral species, highlighting the broad participation across different coral growth forms. Notably, for the first time in two years, spawning activity was sufficiently intense across two separate nights to generate a visible surface ‘slick’ (concentrated layer of eggs and sperm on the water’s surface). The formation of this slick is a strong indicator of successful synchronized spawning and overall reef reproductive health.

This event was particularly encouraging given that the previous year coincided with a strong El Niño, during which elevated sea surface temperatures and associated stressors likely contributed to a substantial reduction in both the abundance and synchrony of spawning corals. In contrast, the robust spawning observed this year suggests a positive trajectory toward recovery and resilience within the reef ecosystem.

This month marked the second November in which our teams have successfully collected data surrounding spawning patterns of massive and encrusting corals, uncovering annual spawning trends. By tracking coral spawning annually, our coral restoration project is able to get better insight into overall coral reef ecosystem health and spot any deviation from the norm.

Coral Settlement – We were excited to successfully introduce 3,500 coral juveniles into our Fish Lab tanks.

Throughout both the November full moon and new moon periods, our team carried out intensive in-water monitoring to document precise coral spawning times. This involved entering the water for one-hour observation sessions at 2 different times during each evening, allowing us to accurately track the onset and progression of spawning activity. We strategically deployed specially designed spawning nets over coral colonies that had been identified as likely to spawn during this lunar cycle. Once spawning began, the buoyant gametes (eggs and sperm) were released and naturally rose upwards, where they were guided into collection bottles positioned at the top of each net. This method effectively protected the gametes from predation while ensuring clean and efficient collection.

We were delighted to be joined by the Manta Trust team during the November spawning event. While data collection and research remained our top priorities, this unique and highly anticipated spawning also provided an invaluable opportunity to showcase this remarkable natural phenomenon to fellow marine conservationists. By witnessing coral spawning firsthand, they were able to deepen their understanding of reef reproductive processes, fostering greater appreciation and passion for coral reef conservation.

At Kuda Huraa this month, our coral experts transplanted 3 new frames, and monitored and repopulated 124 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.

Reef Maintenance

This month has been highly productive for our coral team. We completed maintenance across all four restoration sites, and thanks to favourable weather, we dedicated much of our effort to House Reef. We witnessed and documented spawning in five different Acropora species and monitored 75% of Noah’s Rock. In addition, we carried out cull dives and maintenance at the water-villa reefs, refreshed the Blue Hole, and are preparing the channel restoration site ahead of the upcoming festive season. Overall, it’s been a strong month of progress across all our reef sites.

Noah’s Rock Maintenance – The coral frames are thriving and it has been a joy to see this significant growth when taking monitoring photos. Over the past month, we focused on monitoring and maintenance at this site: lifting frames, brushing off sediment, replacing dead fragments, and removing any algae. We’ve now monitored well over half of the frames and plan to have the entire site monitored by early next month.

Maw’s Rock Maintenance – We hammered away any dead corals and cleaned the frames thoroughly to remove persistent green algae and sponge. Since this site is one of our main spawning areas, regular upkeep is essential. We aim to keep these frames clean so that the thermally tolerant corals that survived the bleaching have the best chance to pass on their heat-resistant genes during spawning events.

Species-Specific Channel Experimental Frames – We have been monitoring these frames closely. Unfortunately, the Montipora foliosa experimental frame rapidly bleached and succumbed to algal overgrowth. For the frame repopulated with fragments of Pocillopora verrucosa from the Vaboh Huraa reef crest, most fragments died but a few remain alive, and we will continue to monitor them closely.

Removal of Degraded Frames – Thanks to the recreation team’s support, we removed more than 20 old degraded frames from the channel restoration site. Several of these frames have already been cleaned and can now be reused as recycled frames for our education & awareness activities. Refurbishing frames in this way reduces waste and maximises resources.

Ongoing Sand Pumping Activities – Throughout November, we have noticed large amounts of sediment suspended in the water column at our House Reef, creating poor visibility. The Hulhumale Phase III “Sand Borrowing” project began at the beginning of the month and will continue until April 2026. This Maldives Government project will require 4 million cbm of sand for land reclamation and shore protection.
Dredging can be catastrophic for coral health, as sand pumping dramatically increases water turbidity, limiting sunlight and impairing the photosynthesis of zooxanthellae – a process that coral needs to survive. This displaced sediment then settles onto the sea floor which can smother and bury corals. With over 1,100 coral frames situated on our house reef, this is potentially bad news for our restoration project. Indeed, the sand has also already started settling on our coral frames, so we are closely monitoring our frames to document any impacts, while doing everything we can to mitigate the damage.

Coral Predators

Corallivorous organisms feed on live coral tissue that can significantly weaken colonies, slow their recovery, and increase the vulnerability of stressed reefs. Regular removals are therefore essential to protect our restoration sites. During our cull dives and routine maintenance at our restoration sites this month, a total of 194 corallivorous organisms were collected. Drupella spp. represented the majority, with 163 of the snails removed primarily from the Water Villas.  Seven medium/large-sized Acanthaster planci (crown-of-thorns starfish) were removed, mainly from the House Reef site, with a few found around the island. Additionally, seven Culcita schmideliana (cushion starfish) were removed from the House Reef site, and five Coralliophila erosa snails were collected from the Water Villas.