*NEWSBITES
An island hotel in the Maldives is offering guests an unusual opportunity: adopt a coral. Young corals are attached to a metal table top just a few meters below the surface of the water waiting for someone to swim past and select one or more to adopt.
While many believe that corals are plants, they are in fact tiny industrious animals that create reefs. Those reefs, in turn, ensure that the Maldives stay the Maldives – and don’t sink into the sea.
At the Huvafen Fushi resort on the North Malé atoll, young corals are kept in a nursery – a kind of kindergarten for vulnerable corals in need of protection – until they are big and strong enough to join the reef.
“Parents” report that by adopting, they develop a whole other appreciation for the small-polyped stony corals, called Acropora sp. Many give their corals names.
The cost of adopting is 30 euros per coral. After leaving the island, parents are sent regular photo updates so they can see how their corals are doing.
Read the full story in German by Harald Peters
Photo - ScubaGeek
*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations
