By DIVE Staff
The first systematic survey of the marine life of the Maldives from the surface down to 1,000m was launched on 4 September and runs for five weeks.
It is being carried out by the UK marine sciences institution Nekton in partnership with the Maldives government.
It aims to create a baseline for future marine conservation of the 923,322 sq km of ocean covered by the vast country – more than two and a half times larger than Germany. The Maldives is made up of a scattering of 26 coral atolls stretching across the expanse of the Indian Ocean.
Only one per cent of the ocean nation is dry land and very little is known about the surrounding ocean.
Ten Maldivian marine scientists will be leading the first descents in high-tech submersibles to the deep reefs and uncharted abyssal depths of the Indian Ocean. They are being supported by an international team of scientists from the UK, Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, USA and Ireland.
This is one of the most climate change-threatened parts of the Indian Ocean, and almost nothing is known about what lies below 30m. Data gathered will inform scientists and policymakers worldwide.
Aya Naseem, director of the Maldives Coral Institute, said: ‘‘I didn’t create the climate and biodiversity crises… yet, my home – here in the Maldives – is on the frontline. Our country, our islands are built on coral. Two-degree temperature rise and all coral dies. The ocean is rising and it’s coming for us first.’
Results from the survey and the sampling will be made public at the start of next year.
