Coral Reef Diagnostics

Maldives - Lohosfushi Corner

Reef Check Foundation
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Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives

05
Coral Health Index: TBD
Photo: Anderson Mayfield/Coral Reef Diagnostics
Country
Maldives
Survey date(s)
2017-05-23
Coordinates
3.8950, 73.4720
Coral cover
15%
Computer vision (20 photos) · details below
Observations
crown-of-thornsbleaching
Heat stress
Today’s heat load
29.7°C0.0°C-weeks
16 Sep 2026 · Bleaching Watch
5-year thermal stress load
5-year mean max. degree heating weeks (DHW)
2.2°C-weeksi
2021–2025
NOAA Coral Reef Watch — Maldives virtual station
i 5-year mean max. DHW is the mean of the annual maximum DHWs over the five complete years named above, not conditions today.
More infoMaldives (NOAA CRW virtual station) · Maldives ecoregion mean=2.9°C-heating weeks
Photographs
25
Site summary

A dawn dive over table corals left gray and algae-overgrown by the 2016 bleaching and finished off in places by crown-of-thorns starfish, though young table corals rebuilding on the ruins and surviving cauliflower and boulder corals show early recovery. Computer vision cover estimate is 14-16%, averaging 15.2%.

Max. depth dived
23.8 m
dive-log maximum

Fifteen 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 within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.

17 of these 25 photographs are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.

4781314222324

Photo credit & attribution

Site description

General benthic features

Look closely at the survivors: orange cauliflower corals with a tiny hawkfish tucked in the branches, massive boulder corals still holding ground, and here and there a young table coral rebuilding on the ruins — early signs of a reef trying to restart itself (e.g., Image 3, Image 9, Image 10, Image 20, Image 21).

3Image 39Image 910Image 1020Image 2021Image 21

Coral cover

Coral cover: 15% — photo-derived, and the two methods broadly agree (14% vs 16%). This site's figure is the mean of two independent computer vision passes over Anderson's own frames: a DINOv3 calibrated point classifier reads 14.1% and a CoralSCOP computer vision reads 16.3%, a spread of 2.2 percentage points. The map publishes the mean so sites can be sorted against one another, but the honest statement of what is known here is the 14–16% range: the two products have different denominators and should not be treated as one measurement. He is actively comparing CoralSCOP and DINOv3 against newer CV models and will swap in an updated figure here once a more reliable model is found.

Stressors

A dawn dive over a reef that tells the story of 2016 in one sweep: whole terraces of table corals stand intact but gray, overgrown with algae a year after the great El Niño bleaching — and the photographer's own caption blames crown-of-thorns seastars for finishing parts of the job (e.g., Image 2, Image 11, Image 12, Image 15, Image 17, Image 25).

2Image 211Image 1112Image 1215Image 1517Image 1725Image 25

Fish and other fauna

Rivers of yellow-striped snapper pour over the old coral tables, a powder-blue surgeonfish patrols the rubble, and a honeycomb moray gapes spectacularly from its crevice (e.g., Image 1, Image 5, Image 6, Image 16, Image 18, Image 19).

1Image 15Image 56Image 616Image 1618Image 1819Image 19

Comparisons with other data

No independent survey was made at this exact site; the nearest ones are listed in the table below.

Other notes

Yet the corner is far from lifeless.

CV model comparison

DINOv3 14%, CoralSCOP 16%; the headline is their mean.
More infoAs of September 2026 no computer-vision method estimates coral cover accurately on new images, so treat this as indicative rather than a measurement; it is revised as the methods improve.
The two methods broadly agree (spread 2.2 pp).
More infoThe published figure is the mean of the two methods.
MethodHard-coral cover (%)
In-house DINOv314.1
CoralSCOP16.3
Mean (± SD)15.2 ± 1.6
Range14.1–16.3

Mean ± SD and range are across the computer-vision methods shown.

Independent surveys nearby

Data availability near this site
Agency / programYear(s)Stations / distanceLink
Montefalcone et al. (2020)2015–20194 stations, 0.60–3.59 kmRecords ↓
Re E.*20261 station, 1.72 kmRecords ↓
Reef Check2012–202510 stations, 0.73–3.88 kmRecords ↓
Hard coral cover over time — this site and every independent station within 5 km. Programs are shown separately because they use different methods at different stations; the lines are not one comparable series.
0%22%44%66%88%201220192026Reef Check 2012: 18%Reef Check 2017: 21%Reef Check 2018: 8.8%Reef Check 2018: 18%Reef Check 2019: 20%Reef Check 2019: 24%Reef Check 2019: 28%Reef Check 2019: 30%Reef Check 2022: 16%Reef Check 2022: 20%Reef Check 2024: 25%Reef Check 2024: 31%Reef Check 2025: 25%Reef Check 2025: 26%Reef Check 2025: 27%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2015: 51%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2015: 83%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2016: 7.7%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2016: 12%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2016: 18%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2017: 8.0%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2017: 45%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2018: 17%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2018: 19%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2019: 34%Montefalcone et al. (2020) 2019: 38%Re E.* 2026: 29%Dr. Coral (CRD) 2017: 15%Year-averaged across all programs: no detectable trend (-0.22 pp per year, not separable from zero; 10 years)
Reef Check Montefalcone et al. (2020) Re E.* Dr. Coral (CRD)Year-average (no detectable trend)

Within 5 km, 15 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 46 records between 2012 and 2026. Of the 9 stations surveyed in more than one year, 2 declined, 3 increased, and 4 changed by less than 5 percentage points between their first and latest surveys. The longest record, Guraidhoo backreef (Reef Check, 1.89 km away), went from 28% in 2019 to 25% in 2025. Surveys since 2021 average 25% (range 16–31%, n=10). This site's own estimate (15%) is indistinguishable from the recent range (16–31%): the 0.4-point gap is inside the ±7 percentage-point noise between methods; 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. *Conducted by citizen scientists), so these are context for the figures above, not a like-for-like comparison. Where a station was surveyed more than once the range is shown. Station names are not dive-site names. Values marked best patch exceed 70%: surveyors usually chose the richest area, so they are not site means.

Show all 15 independent survey records
Independent survey data near this site
AgencySite / locationDateHard coral cover (%)DistanceLink
Reef CheckBiyadhoo House Reef201218% (3 surveys)3.88 km—
Montefalcone et al. (2020)Villivaru Kuda Giri2015–20198.0–51% (4 surveys)3.59 kmHeatCRD database
Montefalcone et al. (2020)Guraidhoo Kuda Giri2015–201612–83% (2 surveys) best patch3.59 kmHeatCRD database
Montefalcone et al. (2020)Maadhu Faru Beyru2016–201718–45% (2 surveys)0.60 kmHeatCRD database
Montefalcone et al. (2020)Kandooma Beyru2016–20197.7–34% (3 surveys)1.05 kmHeatCRD database
Reef CheckGuraidhoo Corner201721% (2 surveys)0.78 km—
Reef CheckKandooma Beyru2018–201918–30% (4 surveys)0.73 km—
Reef CheckVillivaru Giri20188.8% (2 surveys)3.18 km—
Reef CheckGuridhoo outer2019–202216–20% (3 surveys)1.11 km—
Reef CheckGuraidhoo backreef2019–202520–28% (6 surveys)1.89 km—
Reef CheckVillivaru Kuda Giri201924% (2 surveys)3.45 km—
Reef CheckGuraidhoo Forereef2024–202525–26% (4 surveys)1.22 km—
Reef CheckGuraidhoo Banana2024–202525–27% (4 surveys)1.39 km—
Reef CheckGuraidhoo Backreef202431% (2 surveys)1.97 km—
Re E.*Banana_Reef202629% (3 images)1.72 kmRe E. 2026. AquaReef Project - Maldives. MERMAID

Data & links

All images from Coral Reef Diagnostics. Data are from Coral Reef Diagnostics and the organizations named in the data-sources table above.

© Coral Reef Diagnostics.