Deep South Atolls — Beyond the Southern Hemisphere of the Maldives Text by Jordi Chias Photos by Rafa Fernande 31 X-RAY MAG : 103 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Maldives We were in Addu, the second We started our trip by exploring the state of conservation was very good. The largest “city” in the Maldives finest dive spots in this atoll. One of ship lay on the sandy bottom on its star- the most accessible was the wreck of board side and was heavily colonized and capital of the southernmost the British Loyalty. This British navy ship with hard corals. Large black coral trees atoll. Located 45 miles below was torpedoed in March 1944 by the could be found at the stern, below the the equator, and 540km south German submarine U-183. The ship, propeller. It was also in this area where of Malé, this is the most remote dedicated to fuel transport, suffered we found the highest concentration of extensive damage but did not sink. It fish. This wreck was an entertaining dive, of the 26 atolls that, scattered was partially repaired and destined to an ideal way to start off our dive cruise. along almost 900km of the function as a floating “warehouse.” Indian Ocean, make up the Finally, in 1946, it was sunk at its current Mudakan: A manta point archipelago of the Maldives. location, just off Hithadhoo Island, and Another essential dive in Addu was has become a very popular dive. The Mudakan, one of the best-known manta This piece of land, with a very history of this shipwreck is not a coinci- cleaning stations in the area. We could unique history, was the starting dence since this atoll was a secret British sometimes encounter strong current here, point for our ship, the Maldives air base in World War II, which is why it so it was important to descend quickly to has some important infrastructure despite avoid passing over the coral head where Blue Force One, on the route its remote location. the manta rays congregated. through the best Maldivian reefs Diving the wreck was generally easy, Once we reached a depth of 15m, we in the Southern Hemisphere. as there was usually no current and its let ourselves drift, always staying togeth- Diver with whale shark in the Maldives (above); Pair of manta rays at Mudakan (top left); Snorkeler with whale shark covered in remora fish (previous page) 32 X-RAY MAG : 103 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Maldives Maldives Blue Force One liveaboard, with dhoni attached, in the Maldives (above); Manta ray at Mudakan (top left) er as a group, letting the current push task. With their tiny mouths, they tore rience we had just shared. In a few us swiftly along the reef. Visibility was off dead tissue, cleaned wounds seconds, the dhoni came to pick good, and after a brief drift, we spot- and plucked small parasites from the us up and take us back to the ship ted a group of eight to ten mantas manta’s skin. From time to time, one where breakfast awaited—a great on our horizon, swimming over a of them would overdo it and bite too way to start the day. The dive in small coral bommie rising between much off. Then the manta, in a kind of Mudakan was so good that no one the reef and the sand. “groan,” would expel them abruptly, minded repeating it before leaving Following the instructions of the pre- as if it had sneezed. Meanwhile, the Addu to head north. dive briefing, we positioned ourselves rest of the mantas waited patiently for around the cleaning station, using their turn, lining up and holding their The rules of the Great South reef hooks to avoid damaging the positions against the current. Addu Atoll is so far south that the coral and always staying a reason- We were 22m deep, and after effects of the monsoon are much able distance away so as not to inter- almost 30 minutes, the alarms of our less influential here than in fere with the behavior of the mantas. computers began to warn us that it the Northern Hemisphere atolls, One by one, everyone in our group was time to ascend if we wanted to where everything is ruled by the two found their place. avoid exceeding our no-decompres- main seasons. The presence of large For the manta rays, this ritual was a sion limit. As we left the protection of pelagic species such as tuna, whale daily task, but for us, it was an amaz- the reef, the current expelled us from sharks and the emblematic mantas ing spectacle. In a kind of perfectly this privileged vantage point. The is closely linked to the winds and cur- orchestrated choreography, each image of the mantas on the cleaning rents of the monsoon. manta ray passed through a specific station faded in seconds. In the Southern Hemisphere atolls, point of the station, stopped, unfold- After a brief safety stop, we this is slightly different. Recent stud- ed its head lobes and opened up its returned to the surface. Gathered ies reveal that at the few “manta mouth completely. At that moment, around the surface marker buoy points” that are known in the south- dozens of tiny wrasses pounced on (SMB) of our dive guide, our faces ern atolls, the mantas, although to a the manta in a stubborn cleaning reflected the satisfaction of the expe- lesser extent, stay put—that is, they do Diver with huge school of jack fish at Vaadhoo (above) 33 X-RAY MAG : 103 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Maldives Divers with tiger shark at Fuvahmulah Island (above); Deep south atolls of the Maldives (top right) not make large migrations like their have the characteristic morphology have appeared. In the pre-dive relatives in the north, preferring to of the atolls but looked like a rocky briefing, our dive guides explained congregate in the eastern or western island. Instead of the typical lagoon, that we would not take part in these atolls “cleaning stations,” depending this island had two small freshwater feeding activities as it modified the on the time of the monsoon. lakes. In addition, some of the few behavior of the animals and could In these southern atolls, any remaining Buddhist vestiges of the lead to safety concerns. encounter is possible, and the dive entire archipelago were found here— After a detailed explanation of the sites are not crowded, but the best remains that Islamization was respon- dive, we immersed ourselves in the season does not usually last more sible for reconverting. vicinity of ​​the tiger sharks, and we than two months, from February To the south of the island, a coral spotted two large specimens, which to March. It is in these two months platform stretched for several kilo- approached us calmly, without the that the most favorable conditions meters, making it one of the best lure of bait. Measuring more than occur; the predominant current is places in the Great South to have three meters in length, they were from the east, bringing clearer water exceptional encounters. There, one spectacular sharks and very rare to to the channels. could see large groups of gray reef see in other areas of the Maldives. sharks, silvertip sharks, thresher sharks, Fuvahmulah: schools of hammerhead sharks and Walls of sharks A different and unique island occasionally some giant sunfish. In and sleepless nights North of Addu was the small town of this area, the reef was just splendid, With our minds loaded up with good Hulhumeedhoo, from where we set with some very exuberant acropores. memories, we continued our jour- sail for Fuvahmulah. This island was In the past few years, a dive center ney north. Halfway to the next atoll, perhaps the most unique of all in the on the island has been organizing we crossed the imaginary line of the Maldives. It was an island that did not feeding dives and some tiger sharks equator. A few hours later, we arrived Silvertip sharks patrol the reefs at Fuvahmulah Island. Other pelagic species that can be encountered here include gray reef sharks, thresher sharks, hammerhead sharks and sometimes even giant sunfish. 34 X-RAY MAG : 103 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Maldives at Vaadhoo—a small island south of Huvadhu. Huvadhu is considered (with some controversy) to be the largest atoll in the Maldives, better known as Gaafu Alifu and Gaafu Huvadhu—the two dis- tricts into which it is divided. We spent several days at Gaafu and had some of the best dives of the trip here. The dives were done on very steep drop-offs, very similar to one another, where the main attraction was the great schools of gray reef sharks. Often, if the current was strong, we found veritable walls of sharks, which remained immobi- le, a few meters from us, besting the cur- rent without apparent effort. In addition to the gray reef sharks, large schools of jack fish, small whitetip sharks and dog- tooth tuna completed the scene. In this atoll, at night, we enjoyed one of the most incredible moments of the cruise. Dive boat crews have learned from local fishermen that placing large Gray reef shark at Gaafu (above); A turquoise lagoon in one of the deep south atolls (top right); Wall of silvertip sharks at Gaafu (top left); Tiger shark at Fuvahmulah Island (left) 35 X-RAY MAG : 103 : 2021 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Maldives spotlights on the stern of their boats ocean.