Kategorie: News
A Maldives Resort Becomes a Research Laboratory
At the Six Senses Kanuhura resort in the Maldives’ Lhaviyani Atoll, marine biologists have been surveying four house reefs since early 2026 using a method previously reserved primarily for leading research institutions: three-dimensional photogrammetry. The project is called the Kanuhura Coral Census and, according to those involved, is considered the world’s first long-term 3D reef monitoring program operated directly by a resort.
How does it work? Local marine biologist James Cordery swims in parallel lanes over a 10-by-10-meter section of reef using a metal pole with three GoPro cameras attached - a technique he himself calls “the lawnmower.” Every half second, the cameras fire, producing thousands of overlapping photos that are later used to calculate a precisely measured 3D model of the reef.
During a dive for National Geographic Traveler magazine, Cordery used this method to map 1,027 coral colonies in about 20 minutes - a traditional survey using a measuring tape and an underwater slate would have taken about seven hours and required several divers, according to him.
Every three months, the exact same area is surveyed again from the same perspective. “The whole point is consistency. We try to photograph the reef from exactly the same angle every time,” explains Cordery. Comparing the models makes it possible to track the growth of individual coral colonies with millimeter precision - according to the Maldivian tourism authority Visit Maldives, even with a resolution of half a millimeter over a surveyed area of more than 100 square meters per location. Among other techniques, the team uses “Gaussian splatting,” a method for creating highly detailed 3D reconstructions from photographic data.
Scientific Partners and a Look Behind the Scenes
The method was developed in collaboration with the CoralAssist Lab at Newcastle University and University College London (UCL). For UCL researcher John Stratford, who helped develop the underlying technology, the format was initially unfamiliar: “I would have been very skeptical about putting my name on clipboard data collected at a tourist resort.” The 3D model, on the other hand, provides a highly accurate snapshot of the actual condition.
His reasoning behind the collaboration: “Resorts are already located in these incredible places. They have dive boats, access to the reef, and people like James who are out there every day.” This allows the scope of coral research to be significantly expanded without the costs of conducting their own expeditions.
The timing of the project is no coincidence: Global studies warn that up to 90 percent of the world’s coral reefs could be lost by 2050. According to the tourism authority, traditional reef surveys using measuring tapes and visual counts often cover less than 0.01 percent of a reef and are also prone to observational errors.
The AI-powered analysis of the 3D models also makes it possible to capture features such as reef roughness, overhangs, and structural diversity, which are usually overlooked in traditional surveys.
Seagrass Instead of Plastic Sheeting
A second aspect of this initiative takes place in the lagoon’s seagrass beds. Before Six Senses took over the resort, plastic sheeting had been laid on the seafloor to kill the seagrass and instead preserve the turquoise water that many vacationers expect from the Maldives - a practice that, according to the resort’s own turtle biologist Athif Mohamed, is still common among some operators today.
Six Senses has since removed about four metric tons of this plastic sheeting to restore the meadows. “Seagrass isn’t what tourists expect in the Maldives; they think it’s ugly. But it is one of the most important ecosystems we have,” says Mohamed. Green sea turtles eat about two kilograms of seagrass daily before returning to the reef to rest - a cycle that Mohamed sums up with the phrase: “Everything is connected.”
Plans are also underway to expand this methodology to seagrass beds: In the future, the same photogrammetric techniques currently used for coral reefs will be applied there as well, to obtain a similarly detailed picture of this area, which is so crucial to the marine habitat.
Further information:
Visit Maldives Corporation
edie.net
National Geographics
Tourism Maldives Online