Maldives - Vilivaru Giri (night dive)
Part of the regional summaries: Maldives - Central (Male Atolls / Ari / Vaavu) and Maldives
More info
Maldives (NOAA CRW virtual station)A torch-lit night dive turning up polyp-flared branching corals, a Diadema urchin, a banded brittle star, and a burning orange-red coral hind grouper spangled in blue spots, plus a nudibranch and a flatworm. No coral-cover figure comes from these frames: they are strobe-lit macro/critter shots, not a reef-cover survey.
ޓޯޗު ލައިޓުގެ އަލީގައި ކުރި ރޭގަނޑު ފީނުމެކެވެ. މިތާގައި ޕޮލިޕްތައް ފުޅާކޮށްލާފައިވާ ގޮފިގޮފި ހިރިގާ، Diadema urchin އެއް، ރޮނގު ޖެހި brittle star އެއް، ނޫ ތިކި ޖެހި، ހުޅުކޮޅެއް ފަދަ ރަތްދޮން ކުލައިގެ ފާނައެއް (coral hind)، އަދި nudibranch އެއް އާއި flatworm އެއް ފެނުނެވެ. މި ފޮޓޯތަކުން ހިރިގާ ނިވާކުރާ މިންވަރެއް ނުނެގެއެވެ — މިއީ ސްޓްރޯބް ލައިޓުގެ އަލީގައި ނެގި ކުދި ދިރުންތަކުގެ (macro) ފޮޓޯތަކެވެ، ފަރުގެ ހިރިގާ ނިވާކުރާ މިންވަރުގެ ސާވޭއެއް ނޫނެވެ.
AI translation of this summary; the English is authoritative. (low confidence)
Seventeen independent survey stations shown with the program’s logo — click one to see how far it is from this site.
Two other CRD dive sites with their own pages within 5 km shown in orange — click a marker to open its page.
Site description
Setting
After sunset the reef changes shifts, and this torch-lit dive caught the night crew at work: branching corals wearing fuzzy halos of extended polyps, a long-spined Diadema urchin marching across the open, and a banded brittle star sprawled like dropped rigging.
Coral cover
- Coral cover: not reported. This was a night dive, and its frames are close strobe-lit macro shots rather than wide reefscapes, so a photo-derived index would measure the lit subject and the framing rather than reef cover.
Stressors
During a crown-of-thorns removal survey in May 2017, divers from Coral Reef CPR and Carpe Diem Maldives removed one crown-of-thorns starfish from this reef (Coral Reef CPR 2017).
Fish and other fauna
The macro finds kept coming — a pale nudibranch freckled in yellow on orange sponge, an elongate flatworm gliding over coral, urn tunicates with green-ringed mouths clustered like tiny amphorae, and an unidentifiable jet-black slug plowing a lonely furrow across the sand. Anemones bloomed into shag carpets of tentacles, small clownfish huddled deep inside one, and the beam found a coral hind grouper in its evening finery — burning orange-red, spangled all over with electric blue spots.
Comparisons with other data
Reef Check surveyed this site (Villivaru Giri) in 2018, 0.05 km from the pin. Within 5 km, seventeen independent stations recorded station-year means of 7.7–83% hard coral cover between 2012 and 2025; the nearest, Reef Check at Villivaru Giri, 0.05 km away, read 8.8% in 2018.
Other notes
No coral-cover figure comes from these 17 frames: they are strobe-lit macro/critter shots — several contain no scleractinian coral at all — and a photo-derived index over frames like these measures the strobe-lit subject and the framing, not reef cover.
Independent surveys nearby
| Agency / program | Year(s) | Stations / distance | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | 2015–2019 | 4 stations, 0.63–3.97 km | Records ↓ |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | 2023–2025 | 3 stations, 3.54–4.63 km | Records ↓ |
| Reef Check | 2012–2025 | 10 stations, 0.05–4.71 km | Records ↓ |
Within 5 km, 17 independent survey stations recorded hard coral cover in 57 records between 2012 and 2025. Of the 13 stations surveyed in more than one year, 7 declined (by 3.0–71 points) and 6 increased (by 1.0–27 points) between their first and latest surveys. Two stations share the longest span (2019–2025); one, Guraidhoo backreef (Reef Check, 1.20 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 33% (range 16–60%; n = 15 station-years from 25 records); 2 best-patch values above 70% are left out, as they are not site means.
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.
Show all 57 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) | 2.57 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Villivaru Kuda Giri | 2015–2019 | 8.0–51% (range of yearly means; 4 records) | 0.63 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 | 0.63 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Maadhu Faru Beyru | 2016–2017 | 18–45% (range of yearly means; 2 records) | 3.21 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Montefalcone et al. (2020) | Kandooma Beyru | 2016–2019 | 7.7–34% (range of yearly means; 3 records) | 3.97 km | doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00587 |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Corner | 2017 | 21%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 3.19 km | — |
| Reef Check | Villivaru Giri | 2018 | 8.8%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 0.05 km | — |
| Reef Check | Kandooma Beyru | 2018–2019 | 18–30% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 3.54 km | — |
| Reef Check | Villivaru Kuda Giri | 2019 | 24%, mean of 2 surveys (5 m and 10 m) | 0.32 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo backreef | 2019–2025 | 20–31% (range of yearly means; 8 surveys) | 1.20 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guridhoo outer | 2019–2022 | 16–20% (range of yearly means; 3 surveys) | 3.34 km | — |
| Reef Check | Beybe's Bellybutton | 2019–2025 | 32–52% (range of yearly means; 8 surveys) | 4.71 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Cocoa Beyru | 2023–2025 | 37–72% (2 surveys) best patch | 4.63 km | doi:10.1007/s00338-026-02850-x |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Banana | 2024–2025 | 25–27% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 1.95 km | — |
| Reef Check | Guraidhoo Forereef | 2024–2025 | 25–26% (range of yearly means; 4 surveys) | 3.39 km | — |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Kandooma Beyru | 2024–2025 | 43–73% (2 surveys) best patch | 3.54 km | doi:10.1007/s00338-026-02850-x |
| Montefalcone et al. 2026 | Bajiy Giri | 2024–2025 | 43–60% (2 surveys) | 4.15 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
- 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