what will the trip involve?

a very hands-on conservation trip!

Trips will be from 2 to 3 weeks.  Divers would be based for half the time on South Malé Atoll and the second half on Baa Atoll.  Divers are provided with lodging, meals, dive equipment rental and all transfers from the airport, including a sea plane ride.  The divers are responsible for their airfare to the Maldives and a portion of the research costs provided to Coral Reef CPR (approximately 2000 USD per person for three weeks).  This is ideal if you want to gain hands-on conservation experience, and really contribute to saving Maldivian coral reefs while working at these beautiful resorts.

 

In response to a devastating El Niño event that peaked in April/May 2016, Coral Reef CPR has begun implementing approaches to rejuvenate badly damaged coral reefs.  Throughout the country branching, staghorn and table corals (mostly Acropora spp.) were killed as the water temperatures heated above 31-32˚ C. We have identified some survivors of the bleaching event, what we call ‘super corals’ because they are resilient and did not bleach this year.  These identified corals include broken branches and fragments that have accumulated on the reef slope and bases of the reef, as well as certain reefs that resisted bleaching.  We are using small branches from these corals in our coral nurseries, producing new colonies that we will eventually transplant back onto damaged reefs. 

You will join a small team and work directly with our highly experienced scientists to:

1. Establish and expand coral nurseries
   
2. Help maintain the nurseries and monitor the survival and growth of the corals
   
3. Learn how to fragment corals, attach them to the nursery materials, and measure and photograph them. You will also have additional opportunities to participate in low-tech efforts to eliminate coral predators, and exploratory dives to identify and characterize surrounding reefs.
   

view a day in the field

the details

express interest

option 3

Coral nursery mission