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TheMaldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, is a small archipelagic state in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 700 kilometres (430 mi) from the Asian continent's mainland. The chain of 26 atolls stretches across the Equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south. The land area is roughly 298 square kilometres (115 sq mi). Malé is the capital.
The Maldives has white sand beaches, coral reefs, clear warm waters, numerous scuba diving sites and rich marine life. Most holiday resorts in the Maldives have a scuba diving facility and there are a number ofliveaboard operators offering scuba diving cruise holidays.
In the 1998 globalcoral bleaching, much of the coral in the Maldives was bleached due to theEl Niño event combined withglobal warming. In 2016, global warming and theEl Nino event heated the Maldives, which, withland reclamation andwater pollution, bleached and killed 75% of corals in the Maldives.[1][2]
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The Maldives has been growing in popularity as a scuba diving destination since the 1970s when the number of resorts began to increase.[citation needed]
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Tourist arrivals to the Maldives have been growing steadily for the past ten years, with the exception of 2005 (the year after thetsunami), when the numbers dropped. Around 700,000 tourists visit the Maldives each year (2008).[3]
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Climate change has severely impacted coral reefs around the world as has been widely reported such as the effects of theEl Niño in late 1990s, according to some[who?] around 60%-80% of the corals have been bleached in several areas in the world including the Maldives reefs.[4]
Reports have described the socio-economic impact on the environment as a result of mass tourism expansion in the Maldives.[5][clarification needed]
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The Maldives comprises mainly open water, with only 1% of the country being land-based. The land is spread over 1,192 islets, each of which forms part of an atoll. In total, there are 26atolls in the Maldives. The following atolls are home to some of the dive sites.[6]
The Maldives offers different types of dives, but most are characterized by medium to strong currents.[7]
Each island in the Maldives has its ownlagoon, which is usually not very deep.[quantify]
Terminology:
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Located in the western part of the Maldives,Ari Atoll is one of the largest atolls and has a wide selection of dive sites, including:
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TheMale Atoll is divided into 2 sections, the North Male Atoll and the South Male Atoll.
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The North Male Atoll is one of the most developed atolls in terms of hotel and resort development.
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Addu Atoll is the only area in the Maldives that was not affected by the 1998 global coral bleaching.
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One island, one atoll. In Fuvuahmulah, divers may have the opportunity to encounter seven types of rare sharks in one dive! See dozens of tiger sharks a day, and observe thresher sharks in the cleaning stations, as well as oceanic mantas.
The Maldives have a range of different habitats including deep sea, shallow coast, and reef ecosystems, fringing mangroves, wetlands and dry land. There are 187 species of coral forming thecoral reefs. This area of the Indian Ocean, alone, houses 1,100species of fish, 5 species ofsea turtle, 21 species of whale and dolphin, 400 species of mollusc, and 83 species of echinoderms. The area is also populated by a number of crustacean species: 120 copepods, 15 amphipods, more than 145 crab and 48 shrimp species.[8]
Among the many marine families represented arepufferfish,fusiliers,jackfish,lionfish,oriental sweetlips,reef sharks,groupers,eels,snappers,bannerfish,batfish,humphead wrasse,spotted eagle rays,scorpionfish,lobsters,nudibranches,angelfish,butterflyfish,squirrelfish,soldierfish,glassfish,surgeonfish,unicornfish,triggerfish,Napoleon wrasse, andbarracuda.[9][10]
These coral reefs provide habitats to a variety of marine organisms that vary fromplankton to whale sharks.[11]
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