Maldives - Raaeundi Reef
Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives
April 2016 (transect survey)
July 2016 (transect survey)
More info
Maldives (NOAA CRW virtual station)Raaeundi Reef is a shallow flat with a ghost-forest feel, where old staghorn skeletons gray with algae stand beneath scattered living corals, and a leopard-spotted sea cucumber lounges among the dead branches. Some colonies were already pale or partly white in January 2016, and by the April 2016 resurvey at the peak of El Niño the colonies recorded here were 100% bleached.
Raaeundi Reef އަކީ ފުން ނުވާ، ހަމަ ފަރުބިމެކެވެ (reef flat). މިތަނަށް ލިބެނީ ފުރާނަ ނެތް ވަލެއްގެ (ghost forest) ސިފައެވެ. ކަނޑުވިނަ ލެގި އަޅި ކުލައަށް ބަދަލުވެފައިވާ ސްޓެގްހޯން ހިރިގާގެ ބާ ކަށިތައް، ތަންތަނުގައި ހުރި ދިރިހުރި ހިރިގާތަކުގެ ދަށުގައި ކޮޅަށް ހުރެއެވެ. އަދި މަރުވެފައިވާ ގޮފިތަކުގެ ތެރޭގައި ލެޕަޑް ފަދަ ތިކިޖެހި sea cucumber އެއް އަރާމުކޮށް އޮތެވެ. 2016 ގެ ޖަނަވަރީގައި ބައެއް ކޮލޯނީ އޭރުވެސް ކުލަ މަޑުވެފައި ނުވަތަ ބައެއް ހިސާބުތައް ހުދުވެފައި ހުއްޓެވެ. El Niño ގެ އެންމެ ގަދަ ހިނދުގައި، 2016 ގެ އޭޕްރީލްގައި ކުރި ދެވަނަ ސާވޭ ވަންދެން، މިތާގައި ރެކޯޑްކުރި ކޮލޯނީތައް 100% ހުދުވެފައި ހުއްޓެވެ.
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.
Five other CRD dive sites with their own pages within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
11 of the 24 photographs on this page are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.
Site description
General benthic features
A shallow, sun-flooded reef flat with a ghost-forest feel: extensive stands of old staghorn skeletons, gray with algal turf, stand as the framework this reef built in better days — with the living corals scattered over the top like survivors (e.g., Image 7, Image 8, Image 24).
Coral cover
- Coral cover: 8.0% ± 7.3% (n=5 transects, median 6.0%) in July 2016 — Coral Reef CPR point-intercept transects, after the 2016 bleaching; we were part of the CPR team.
- Live coral cover fell from 33% (April 2016) to 8.0% (July 2016) during the 2016 global bleaching event.
- The April 2016 survey, during the bleaching, read 33% (n=6 transects).
Stressors
In January some colonies were already pale or partly white (e.g., Image 10, Image 12, Image 19); by the April 2016 resurvey, at the peak of the El Niño, the colonies recorded here were 100% bleached.
Already in January, Anderson's sampling sheet noted that the site had been ravaged by crown-of-thorns starfish, with low coral cover on both transects, and recorded one of the 15 colonies sampled as sickly and dying, one as mostly dead, and three with partial mortality.
Fish and other fauna
Look between the dead branches for a leopard-spotted sea cucumber lounging across the quadrats (e.g., Image 8).
Comparisons with other data
AquaReef Project surveyed a nearby station (Raimas) in 2026, 0.23 km from the pin. Cover values from that work are not among the survey records shown on this page. Within 5 km, three independent stations recorded station-year means of 19–76% hard coral cover between 2015 and 2025; the nearest of these, Reef Check at Gulhi Island Backreef, 3.08 km away, read 19% in 2022.
Dive record
The January 2016 research dives tagged dozens of the living colonies: fat-fingered and bottlebrush Acropora and blue-tinged Pocillopora heads, each numbered and measured along the transect line (e.g., Image 1, Image 4, Image 6, Image 13, Image 17).
CV model comparison
More info
Same site, April 2016 → July 2016: 33% → 8.0% (Same reef, same survey program: Anderson's HARP / Coral Reef CPR long-term monitoring PIT transects, April 2016 → July 2016).More info
The other rows are comparisons and are never averaged.| Method | Hard coral cover (%) | Photos (n) ± SE |
|---|---|---|
| Transect, July 2016 (headline) | 8.0 | |
| Transect, April 2016 (during the bleaching) | 32.8 | |
| In-house DINOv3, January 2016 photos | 24.2 | |
| CoralSCOP edited, January 2016 photos | 19.3 |
The two computer-vision methods agree within 4.9 pp (19.3–24.2%) and read 11.3–16.2 pp above the in-water transect (8.0%); the headline is the in-water transect because a diver transect is independent of the photographs.
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 | 1 station, 4.87 km | Records ↓ |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | 2024–2025 | 1 station, 4.42 km | Records ↓ |
| Reef Check | 2022 | 1 station, 3.08 km | Records ↓ |
Coral Reef DiagnosticsYear-average (illustrative only, programs differ)Within 5 km, 3 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 4 records between 2015 and 2025. The one station surveyed in more than one year declined by 4.0 points between its first and latest surveys. The longest record, Kuda Giri Wreck (Montefalcone et al. 2026, 4.42 km away), went from 43% in 2024 to 39% in 2025. Since 2021, station-year means average 34% (range 19–43%; n = 3 station-years from 3 records). This site's own estimate (8.0%) 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. 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.
| Agency | Site / location | Date | Hard coral cover (%) | Distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Cocoa Corner | 2015 | 76% best patch | 4.87 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Reef Check | Gulhi Island Backreef | 2022 | 19% | 3.08 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Kuda Giri Wreck | 2024–2025 | 39–43% (2 surveys) | 4.42 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