Update from our Maldives coral reef conservation expedition
The last slates have been scrubbed clean, the transect lines coiled away, and the hum of the compressor has finally fallen silent. Our Reef Check surveys for 2026 have drawn to a close.
As grey clouds race across the horizon and our boat is rocked by waves and wind, our Reef Check findings leave us with a bittersweet feeling: the reefs are holding out better than we had dared to hope. Against the odds, the blue depths still pulse with life, displaying a stubborn resilience in the face of warming seas, overfishing, over-development and just too much human impact. It is a moment of quiet joy of an unexpectedly positive result.
Sober joy
Yet, we hold this joy with steady, sober hands. We know the monster El Niño is gathering its strength on the horizon, ready to cast its long, warming shadow over these delicate sanctuaries. And hanging over all of us is the unvarnished truth just laid bare by UN advisors – that almost every shallow-water coral reef on our planet faces catastrophic ecosystem collapse by 2075. The storm is coming and no amount of wishful thinking will stay its course.
We cannot stop the tide, but we do what we can. We measure, we document, we bear witness, and we fight for every fragment of time and try to identify pockets of resistance.
Shaha’s vision
Two evenings ago, Shaha shared her visionary roadmap for 2027 and beyond. Her plans to identify climate-resilient refugia across these atolls, and to empower local communities to steward their own waters, offer a grounded, vital beacon forward. True conservation is not built on hollow promises, but on local stewardship, truth and action. And we do what we can to support this.
Thank you
Our deepest gratitude goes to the extraordinary crew. Their warmth, flawless hospitality and the incredible food prepared survey after survey sustained not just our bodies, but our spirits. They kept our floating home safe and ticking along despite the squalls and whatever else the ocean threw at us.
My gratitude also goes to the expedition team of Billy, Chai, Jasna, Katherine, Sarah, Richard, Trevis, Fabio, Krishna, Hassan, Chris, Ricarda, Maria and Bernd, hailing from seven countries. Without you, none of this would happen, and this multi-year database would not exist. You could have come to the Maldives to work on your tan on a resort somewhere. Instead you became citizen scientists, bore witness and collected data, ready for Shaha to take over the torch from Simon – thank you to you two also!
We’ll be back
And as Malé’s highrises appear in the distance, we look ahead to 2027 – not with performative optimism, but with quiet resolve. The work continues, the ocean calls, and we will be ready to answer.
Thank you to Shaha Hashim for all the pictures and Katherine for the videos.
Author: Matthias Hammer
Biosphere Expeditions was founded in 1999 by Dr. Matthias Hammer. Born in Germany, he went to school there, before joining the Army, and serving for several years amongst other units with the German Parachute Regiment. After active service he came to the UK and was educated at St Andrews, Oxford and Cambridge. During his time at university he either organised or was involved in the running of several expeditions, some of which were conservation expeditions (for example to the Brazil Amazon and Madagascar), whilst others were mountaineering/climbing expeditions (for example to the Russian Caucasus, the Alps or the Rocky Mountains). With Biosphere Expeditions he has led teams all over the globe. He is a qualified wilderness medical officer, ski instructor, mountain leader, divemaster and survival skills instructor. Once a rower on the international circuit, an amateur marathon runner and Ironman triathlete, he now enjoys less extreme pursuits such as writing and long-distance walks in the wild. More about Matthias.