South Asia @ LSE: The Maldives: a jewel in the blue under...

TheMaldives:ajewelintheblueunderthreatTheMaldivesaresufferingthecatastrophicresultsofclimatechangeincludingthedevastatingimpactofcoralbleaching.Usingimagesfromherconservationwork,SmruticaJithendranathprovidesaglimpseofmarinelifeandthewaysinwhichmarineconservationistsareresurrectingcoralreefs.

“Thesea,onceitcastsitsspell,holdsoneinitsnetofwonderforever”–JacquesCousteau

TheMaldivesaretheultimatetouristdestinationforanyoneseekingoutturquoisebluewatersthatshimmeralongwhitesandybeacheswithaplethoraofmarinecreaturestoexploreunderwater.Foryears,peoplefromallovertheworldhavetravelledtothislittletreasureintheIndianOceantorelax,havearomanticgetaway,familyholiday,todiveandmuchmore.TheMaldivesarecomprisedof26atollsand1192coralislands.Theseislandsarelargelycategorisedintolocalandresortislands.

Viewfromtheshore,whitesandandbluewaters.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

Eachislandiscoveredinlushgreenvegetationandsurroundedbytheturquoisebluewaters.Thetypicalviewfromanypartoftheislandpredominantlyismadeupofthecolourblue.Theblueskyandthebluewater.Thisissometimesalsoaccompaniedbysomeofthecreaturesthatliveinthebig,wideblue.Sittingonthebeach,oneislikelytoseeaturtlecomingupforair,thelittlefintipsofeaglerays,orthewelldistinguishabledorsalfinofashark.

South Asia @ LSE: The Maldives: a jewel in the blue under threat Page 1 of 8

Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Ahawksbillturtlesurfacingforair.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

Divingintothesewaterswithasnorkelmaskon,theworldthatisvisiblebelowthesurfacewilltakesone’sbreathaway.Sensesareheightenedbythevisualfeastofcolours.Ifyoupaycloseattention,youcanlistentothenoisesofthefisheatingandcommunicatingwithoneanother.Onceyouputyourheaddown,timeisaconceptthatisveryquicklylost.

Anursesharksleepsunderapieceofbouldercoral.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Coralreefconservation

ThecoralreefisthedominantecosysteminthewatersoftheMaldives.Shelteringthousandsofdifferentspeciesofmarineanimals,coralsareanimportantpartoftheheritageandcultureofthecountry.Scubadivingisabigpartofthetourismindustryandpeopletraveltotheseparadiseislandstoseethemyriadofcolourscoralreefshavetooffer.

Amassiveschoolofbluestripedsnappercoloursthewateryellow.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

However,climatechangehasinfactaffectedthereefsglobally,andTheMaldivesisnoexception.Therisingtemperatureintheatmosphereisinturnraisingthetemperaturesofthewater.Thisiscausingthereefsfromallovertheworldtolosetheircolourbylosingsymbioticalgae.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Anthiasgatheraroundtheblackcoralforshelter.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

ThecoralreefsaroundtheMaldivesarebeginningtolooklikethebelowpictureasaresultoftheincreaseinthefrequencyofhotsummersoverthelastfewyears.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Coralsufferingfromtheimpactofbleaching.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

Thishasacatastrophicimpactonallthemarinecreaturesupthefoodchain,ultimatelyresultinginthelossofmarinemegafaunasuchassharksandwhales.Therefore,conservationofcoralreefsisofparamountimportance;topreservethisecosystemwhichprovidesfood,shelterandprotectiontocountlessmarineorganisms.

Creatingartificialcoralreefs

IntheMaldives,mostoftheislandresortsareawareoftheimportanceofconservationofthemarineenvironmentandeffortstowardsthishavebeengoingonfordecadesnow.Oneofthemostpopularmeasuretakenbymarinebiologiststhroughoutthecountryiscreatingartificialreefs.Artificialreefsaidingrowthandregenerationofthecoralsaroundthehousereefofanisland.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Cabletiessecuringcoralfragmentstothescaffoldstructure.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

Artificialreefsaremadeoutofmetalrebarstructuresthatareshapedasperthedesigner’sspecificationandthesestructuresactasastablesubstrateforthecoralsthataretransplanted.Oncethestructureisready,itisplacedinthewater.Smallorlargepiecesofcoralsthatarebrokenoffordamaged,arecollectedandattachedtothesestructuresusingcableties(seeabove).

Fishswimaroundthegrowingreefstructure.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Justafteracoupleofmonths,thefragmentsthatsettleonthesestructuresshowincredibleprogress.Thiscanbeseenwhenthecabletiesaroundthecoralpiecesstartdisappearing,becausethecoralstartsgrowinginsize(seebelow).

Coralbeginningtogrowoverthecableties.Photocredit:VerenaWeisbauer.

Inanothermethod(seebelow),coralpiecesareinsertedinbetweenthefibresofapolypropylenerope.Thisiscalledaropenursery/tablenursery.Theadvantageofthismethodovertheprioroneisthatitpreventscertainfishspecies(forexample,parrotfish)fromeatingthefreshlyplantedcorals.

Atable/ropenurserywithcoralfragmentsinsertedintherope.Photocredit:VerenaWeisbauer.

Everymethodandmeasuretakenhasonepurposeonly:marineconservation.Conservingwhatisnaturallyavailabletoushasneverbeenmoreimperative.Globalwarmingisseverelyaffectingouroceansandraisingawarenessaboutconservationhastakencentrestage.IntheMaldives,mostoftheresortislandsarepromotingthesameandinvolvingtheguestsinallconservationrelatedactivities,includingcoralplanting.Withcontinuedeffortstowardsconservationandpreservationofthemarineenvironment,thehopeistoresurrectlifedownunder.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/

Adiverswimspastthereefthatisfilledwithhardandsoftcorals.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

Coverimage:Ahawksbillturtleglidesthroughthereef.Photocredit:SmruticaJithendranath.

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AbouttheAuthor

SmruticaJithendranathisamarineconservationist,withamastersdegreefromVictoriauniversityofWellington,NewZealand.SheiscurrentlyworkingintheMaldivesasamarinebiologist&yogainstructor.

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Date originally posted: 2018-02-07

Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/2018/02/07/the-maldives-a-jewel-in-the-blue-under-threat/

Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/southasia/