Maldives - Kandooma Thila
Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives
2017-05-22
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Maldives (NOAA CRW virtual station)A current-swept pinnacle known for parades of gray reef sharks, barracuda walls, and unicornfish squadrons rather than its coral.
ހިރިގާއަށްވުރެ، gray reef shark ތަކުގެ ޕަރޭޑުތަކާއި، barracuda ގެ ފާރުތަކާއި، unicornfish ގެ ގިނަ ޖަމާޢަތްތަކުން މަޝްހޫރު، އޮޔާ ގަދަ ތިލައެކެވެ.
AI translation of this summary; the English is authoritative. (low confidence)
mean; range 29.7–30.0°C
Eighteen independent survey stations shown with the program’s logo — click one to see how far it is from this site.
Three other CRD dive sites with their own pages within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
20 of the 25 photographs on this page are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.
Site description
Setting
Kandooma Thila is where the current does the introductions.
General benthic features
On the reef itself, pink coralline crusts and dark coral bushes frame the residents — a big turtle wedged in asleep, a striped oriental sweetlips with buttercup fins, a grumpy puffer parked between the branches, and a massive dome coral that has clearly seen decades of currents like today's (e.g., Image 9, Image 12, Image 14, Image 15, Image 16, Image 18, Image 21).
Coral cover
- Reference: Claude CV point count (this site's photos)
- Coral cover: 6.3% — a blind Claude computer-vision point count of 18 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
Divers from Coral Reef CPR and Carpe Diem Maldives saw no crown-of-thorns starfish on either of the two dives here in May 2017.
Fish and other fauna
Two dives here — one at first light, one in afternoon glass — produced a parade of gray reef sharks, from hazy dawn silhouettes to a spotlight-crisp frontal pass, one shark trailing a retinue of little jacks (e.g., Image 4, Image 5, Image 22, Image 10, Image 24, Image 25, Image 11).
The pinnacle's edges churned with life: a chevron wall of barracuda, horned unicornfish squadrons, dense blue riverine schools of fusiliers, and surgeonfish darting up to chase divers' bubbles (e.g., Image 6, Image 1, Image 2, Image 7, Image 13, Image 23).
Comparisons with other data
Coral Reef CPR and Carpe Diem Maldives surveyed this site for crown-of-thorns sea stars in May 2017. Within 5 km, eighteen independent stations recorded station-year means of 7.1–83% hard coral cover between 2012 and 2025; the nearest, Montefalcone et al. (2020) at Kandooma Beyru, 0.75 km away, read 7.7–34% between 2016 and 2019.
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 | 13.2 | |
| CoralSCOP edited | 7.3 | |
| Claude (edited photos) | 6.3* | n = 18 · SE 1.6 |
The two computer-vision methods agree within 5.9 pp (7.3–13.2%) and read within 6.9 pp of Claude's blind point count (6.3%).
*Based on only 18 reef-habitat photos; this estimate is less certain.
See a more detailed, stand-alone version of this table.
Independent surveys nearby
| Agency / program | Year(s) | Stations / distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | 2015–2019 | 4 stations, 0.75–4.38 km | Records ↓ |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | 2023–2025 | 3 stations, 0.79–3.23 km | Records ↓ |
| Reef Check | 2012–2025 | 9 stations, 0.79–4.15 km | Records ↓ |
| XL Catlin Seaview Survey | 2015 | 2 stations, 4.26–4.91 km | Records ↓ |
Coral Reef DiagnosticsYear-average (illustrative only, programs differ)Within 5 km, 18 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 51 records between 2012 and 2025. Of the 12 stations surveyed in more than one year, 7 declined (by 3.0–71 points) and 5 increased (by 1.0–27 points) between their first and latest surveys. The longest record, Guraidhoo backreef (Reef Check, 2.40 km away), went from 28% in 2019 (mean of 2 surveys) to 25% in 2025 (mean of 2 surveys). Since 2021, station-year means average 32% (range 16–60%; n = 12 station-years from 19 records); 2 best-patch values above 70% are left out, as they are not site means. This site's own estimate (6.3%) sits 30.7 points below the recent range of station-year means up to 2 km away (37–43%); the methods differ, so the comparison is context, not a like-for-like test.
Collected by other programs using different methods (Reef Check uses point-intercept transects; the XL Catlin Seaview Survey uses photo-transects with automated image annotation), 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. Values above 70% are marked “best patch”: surveys often target the densest coral on a reef, so these may overstate the site as a whole.
Show all 51 independent survey records
| Agency | Site / location | Date | Hard coral cover (%) | Distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reef Check | Biyadhoo House Reef | 2012 | 18%, mean of 3 surveys (4 m, 7 m, and 12 m) | 3.44 km | — |
| XL Catlin Seaview Survey | transect 37036 | 2015 | 38% | 4.26 km | doi:10.14264/uql.2019.930 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Villivaru Kuda Giri | 2015–2019 | 8.0–51% (range of yearly means; 4 records) | 4.38 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Guraidhoo Kuda Giri | 2015–2016 | 12–83% (range of yearly means; 2 records) best patch | 4.38 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| XL Catlin Seaview Survey | transect 37035 | 2015 | 7.1% | 4.91 km | doi:10.14264/uql.2019.930 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Kandooma Beyru | 2016–2019 | 7.7–34% (range of yearly means; 3 records) | 0.75 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Maadhu Faru Beyru | 2016–2017 | 18–45% (range of yearly means; 2 records) | 2.10 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Corner | 2017 | 21%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 2.29 km | — |
| Reef Check | Kandooma Beyru | 2018–2019 | 18–30% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 0.79 km | — |
| Reef Check | Villivaru Giri | 2018 | 8.8%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 3.81 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo backreef | 2019–2025 | 20–31% (range of yearly means; 8 surveys) | 2.40 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guridhoo outer | 2019–2022 | 16–20% (range of yearly means; 3 surveys) | 2.61 km | — |
| Reef Check | Villivaru Kuda Giri | 2019 | 24%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 4.15 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Cocoa Beyru | 2023–2025 | 37–72% (2 surveys) best patch | 0.93 km | doi:10.1007/s00338-026-02850-x |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Kandooma Beyru | 2024–2025 | 43–73% (2 surveys) best patch | 0.79 km | doi:10.1007/s00338-026-02850-x |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Banana | 2024–2025 | 25–27% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 2.55 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Forereef | 2024–2025 | 25–26% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 2.72 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Bajiy Giri | 2024–2025 | 43–60% (2 surveys) | 3.23 km | doi:10.1007/s00338-026-02850-x |
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
- Montefalcone M, Bianchi CN, Morri C, Ahmed H, Pancrazi I (2026). Outcomes of the fourth global coral bleaching (2023–2024) in the Maldives. Coral Reefs. DOI
- Gonzalez-Rivero M, et al. (2019). Seaview Survey photo-quadrat and image classification dataset. The University of Queensland (UQ eSpace) data collection. DOI