Maldives - Hodeli Bodu Giri
Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives
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Maldives (NOAA CRW virtual station)A shallow pinnacle with dense staghorn and cabbage-coral thickets and a large honeycombed dome coral, though crown-of-thorns starfish are actively grazing it — on this dive the crew fought back, manually removing them from the reef.
ސްޓެގްހޯން އާއި cabbage coral ގަދަކޮށް ހުރި، އަދި ހަނީކޯމް ފަދަ ބޮޑު ގުނބަޒުގެ ސިފައިގެ ހިރިގާއެއް ހުރި، ފުން ނުވާ ތިލައެކެވެ. ނަމަވެސް crown-of-thorns ސްޓާފިޝްތައް މި ތިލަ ކަމުން ދެއެވެ. މި ފީނުމުގައި ކްރޫއިން އެކަމާ ދެކޮޅަށް މަސައްކަތްކޮށް، ސްޓާފިޝްތައް އަތުން ފަރުން ނަގައި ދުރުކުރިއެވެ.
AI translation of this summary; the English is authoritative. (low confidence)
Three independent survey stations shown with the program’s logo — click one to see how far it is from this site.
One other CRD dive site with its own page within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
24 of the 28 photographs on this page are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.
Site description
Setting
The dive ends where the coral does, on a bare sand plain rolling away into open blue (e.g., Image 10).
General benthic features
A shallow, sun-drenched pinnacle stacked with dense coral thickets — interlocking staghorn gardens, whorled cabbage-like stands, and a large honeycombed dome coral (e.g., Image 5, Image 7, Image 9, Image 12, Image 13, Image 14, Image 15, Image 17, Image 18, Image 19, Image 20, Image 22, Image 23, Image 25).
Coral cover
- Reference: Claude CV point count (this site's photos)
- Coral cover: 34% — a blind Claude computer-vision point count of 34 of Anderson's edited photographs (20 points per photo; water, fish, and obstructions excluded). Other computer-vision methods are listed in the method table.
Stressors
But look closer and there's a battle in progress: crown-of-thorns starfish are grazing here, leaving sharp white feeding scars on the big dome and stripping patches of table corals — and on this dive the crew fought back, one diver methodically hunting the spiny predators off the reef with a collection stick (e.g., Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4).
In May 2017 divers from Coral Reef CPR and Carpe Diem Maldives removed 128 crown-of-thorns starfish from this reef, partly by snorkel (Coral Reef CPR 2017).
Fish and other fauna
Blue-green chromis hang over the branches in shimmering clouds while fusiliers in yellow and blue rocket along the slope (e.g., Image 6, Image 8, Image 11, Image 21, Image 24).
Comparisons with other data
We found no other surveys at this site as of 2026. Within 5 km, three independent stations recorded station-year means of 8.8–48% hard coral cover between 2011 and 2019; the nearest, Reef Check at Laguna Beyru House Reef, 2.84 km away, read 12% in 2011.
CV model comparison
More info
A few colony-focused photos raise the mean; the median is the typical photo. No computer-vision method yet estimates coral cover accurately on new images, so treat this as indicative rather than a measurement; it is revised as the methods improve.More info
Other rows are for comparison only and are never averaged. No diver transect exists for these photos, so agreement between rows is not accuracy.| Method | Hard coral cover (%) | Photos (n) ± SE |
|---|---|---|
| In-house DINOv3 | 21.0 | |
| CoralSCOP edited | 25.4 | |
| Claude (edited photos) | 33.6 | n = 34 · SE 4.8 |
The two computer-vision methods agree within 4.4 pp (21.0–25.4%) and read 8.2–12.6 pp below Claude's blind point count (33.6%); the headline is Claude's blind point count because no transect or manual count exists here.
See a more detailed, stand-alone version of this table.
Independent surveys nearby
| Agency / program | Year(s) | Stations / distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | 2017–2019 | 1 station, 4.26 km | Records ↓ |
| Reef Check | 2011–2019 | 2 stations, 2.84–4.61 km | Records ↓ |
Coral Reef DiagnosticsYear-average (illustrative only, programs differ)Within 5 km, 3 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 7 records between 2011 and 2019. The one station surveyed in more than one year increased by 26 points between its first and latest surveys. The longest record, Velassaru (Montefalcone et al. 2020, 4.26 km away), went from 22% in 2017 to 48% in 2019. The most recent nearby survey is from 2019, so these values predate recent heat stress. This site's own estimate (34%) is not compared with these surveys: none lies within 2 km.
Collected by other programs using different methods (Reef Check uses point-intercept transects), so these are context for the figures above, not a like-for-like comparison. Where a station was surveyed more than once, the cell shows either the range of its values or, as a single value, the mean of surveys made in one year. Station names are not dive-site names.
| Agency | Site / location | Date | Hard coral cover (%) | Distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reef Check | Laguna Beyru House Reef | 2011 | 12%, mean of 3 surveys (5.5 m, 8 m, and 10 m) | 2.84 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Velassaru | 2017–2019 | 22–48% (range of yearly means; 2 records) | 4.26 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Reef Check | Vellassaru beyru | 2019 | 8.8%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 4.61 km | — |
Data & links
All images from Coral Reef Diagnostics. Data are from Coral Reef Diagnostics and the organizations named in the data sources above.
© Coral Reef Diagnostics.
References
- Montefalcone M, Morri C, Bianchi CN (2020). Influence of Local Pressures on Maldivian Coral Reef Resilience Following Repeated Bleaching Events, and Recovery Perspectives. Frontiers in Marine Science 7:587. PDF
- Coral Reef CPR & Carpe Diem Maldives Pvt. Ltd. (2017). Crown-of-thorns starfish removal report, North and South Malé Atolls, 13-20 May 2017. PDF