Maldives - Stage
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)Stage is a windward Maldivian fore reef with a shallow, gently sloping top of pale pavement and sand dotted every meter or so with sturdy cauliflower, staghorn, and honeycomb-type colonies, including one almost fluorescent-green branching coral. Photographed along research transects in January 2016, the reef was hit hard when the El Niño heatwave peaked that April, with more than nine in ten colonies bleached.
Stage އަކީ ވައި ޖަހާ ފަރާތުގައިވާ ދިވެހި ފަރެއްގެ ކުރިމަތި (fore reef) އެވެ. އޭގެ ފުން ނުވާ، މަޑުމަޑުން ފުންވަމުން ދާ މަތީގައި ކުލަ މަޑު ހިލަބިމާއި ވެލި ހުރެއެވެ. އެ ބިމުގައި ގާތްގަނޑަކަށް ކޮންމެ މީޓަރަކުން، ވަރުގަދަ ކޮލީފްލާވަރ، ސްޓެގްހޯން، އަދި ހަނީކޯމް ބާވަތުގެ ކޮލޯނީތައް ހުރެއެވެ. އޭގެ ތެރޭގައި ގާތްގަނޑަކަށް ފްލޫރެސެންޓް ފެހި ކުލައިގެ ގޮފިގޮފި ހިރިގާއެއްވެސް ހިމެނެއެވެ. 2016 ގެ ޖަނަވަރީގައި ދިރާސާގެ ޓްރާންސެކްޓްތަކުގައި ފޮޓޯ ނެގި މި ފަރަށް، އެ އަހަރުގެ އޭޕްރީލްގައި El Niño ގެ ހޫނު ރާޅު (heatwave) އެންމެ ގަދަވި ހިނދު ބޮޑު ގެއްލުމެއް ލިބުނެވެ. ދިހައިން ނުވައަށްވުރެ ގިނަ ކޮލޯނީ ހުދުވިއެވެ.
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.
Eight other CRD dive sites with their own pages within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
8 of the 35 photographs on this page are shown beside the text that discusses them under "Site description" below.
Site description
Setting
Stage is a windward reef on the atoll's east side, classed as fore reef on Anderson's 2016 survey sheet, with a shallow, gently sloping top rather than a dramatic wall: a pale pavement of rock, rubble, and sand stretching into the blue, studded every meter or so with sturdy, self-contained coral colonies (e.g., Image 19, Image 25).
General benthic features
Cauliflower-like clumps compatible with Pocillopora share the ground with thick-fingered digitate and bushy staghorn forms compatible with Acropora — including one startling, almost fluorescent-green colony photographed with its polyps extended in broad daylight — plus honeycomb-surfaced mounds compatible with Goniastrea and its faviid kin (e.g., Image 1, Image 3, Image 11, Image 24).
Coral cover
- Coral cover: 28% (SD 7.6%, n=20 transects, median 29%) 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 65% (April 2016) to 28% (July 2016) during the 2016 global bleaching event.
- The April 2016 survey, during the bleaching, read 65% (n=8 transects).
Stressors
In January 2016 these photos were taken along research transect lines with numbered tags and rulers (e.g., Image 17), and Anderson's sample sheet records all 15 colonies sampled that week as healthy.
One of Anderson's habitat frames from that week nonetheless shows a stark-white colony beside pigmented neighbors, recent mortality, cause not stated (e.g., Image 42).
Months later the picture changed utterly: when the same reef was resurveyed in April 2016 at the peak of the El Niño marine heatwave, more than nine of every ten coral colonies here were bleached. No crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) or other corallivores were evident.
Comparisons with other data
Apart from our own transect survey shown here, we found no other surveys at this site as of 2026. Within 5 km, three independent stations recorded station-year means of 19–76% hard coral cover between 2015 and 2025; the nearest, Reef Check at Gulhi Island Backreef, 0.87 km away, read 19% in 2022.
CV model comparison
More info
Same site, April 2016 → July 2016: 65% → 28% (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) | 28.4 | |
| Transect, April 2016 (during the bleaching) | 64.5 | |
| In-house DINOv3, January 2016 photos | 23.0 | |
| CoralSCOP edited, January 2016 photos | 37.8 |
The two computer-vision methods disagree by 14.8 pp (23.0–37.8%) and read on both sides of the in-water transect (28.4%); 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, 2.72 km | Records ↓ |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | 2024–2025 | 1 station, 2.95 km | Records ↓ |
| Reef Check | 2022 | 1 station, 0.87 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, 2.95 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 (28%) sits 9 points above the recent value up to 2 km away (19%); 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), 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 | 2.72 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Reef Check | Gulhi Island Backreef | 2022 | 19% | 0.87 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Kuda Giri Wreck | 2024–2025 | 39–43% (2 surveys) | 2.95 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