CORAL TRANSPLANTATION

THE BAROS CORAL REEF REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

Corals are colonies of tiny animals that reproduce only once a year by releasing their eggs into the water. During the rest of the year they simply create clones of themselves.

In 1998 and 2016, we witnessed the devastating effects of an unusual increase in sea surface temperatures, with 90 and 70 per cent of corals in the Maldives being affected in both years respectively. Global warming has become a serious threat to the world’s coral reefs and our Marine Centre Team at Baros is keen to understand the processes that lie behind it and help encourage regeneration of the corals on our house reef.

To achieve this, we use the ‘coral propagation’ method, where fragments of corals are transplanted to a hard substrate to create coral nursery areas around Baros that aim to reproduce corals and establish homes for various fishes and invertebrates.

Our resident Marine Biologist teaches the coral propagation method at our ‘Coral Sponsorship’. Our guests can learn and participate by collecting broken, but still living, coral fragments from the seabed and attaching them to our island-made coral tables. It is also possible to contribute to this environmental programme without participating in the transplantation process. A personalised name tag is attached to record the sponsor’s contribution to this sustainable activity. Participants then receive semi annual updates for two years.