SCIENTIFIC CRUISE 2022 report

Due to the large attendance of students, this year’s Scientific Cruise was a great opportunity to survey the Maldives for 3 weeks!

Thanks to the many professors and researchers it was possible to develop new research and widen the diversity of the data collected.

For the first time insects have been collected and brought to Italy for identification and classification, coral fragments have been taken to study the biome living on them and gorgonian fragments have been stored to identify the species present in the Maldives.

Samples of water, sediment and bacteria have been collected in the Blue Hole (Ari atoll) and the chemical and physical characteristics of its column of water have been studied thanks to a multi-parametric probe.

Also, new surveying methodologies have been studied and developed!

Together with these new analyses, we kept collecting the historical series of data:

  • Reef scape: drawing of the reef profile with coral cover and biodiversity assessment

  • Coral recruits: count of the abundance and biodiversity of coral recruits on the reefs.

  • Chain transect: the study of the three-dimensionality of the reef

  • Coral Condition index: a new index to evaluate the coral condition

  • Reef Check protocol: international protocol to assess the health state of the reef considering a broad number of indicators

During the 3 weeks, we managed to survey from Malè North and South to Ari, Rasdhoo, Baa and Goifulhafehendhoo atolls.

We are very grateful for the experience and the opportunity.

Further details will be shared in the next reports!