Field Notes from the Maldives
Long-form stories from the reef and the channels — wildlife, science and the islands behind them. Reported, not promoted.
For half the year, a dead-end reef no bigger than a few football pitches becomes the most reliable place on Earth to swim beside a hundred feeding manta rays. Here is why — and how it is protected.
Most whale-shark hotspots are seasonal: the animals pass through and move on. Along one 42-kilometre stretch of Maldivian reef, the biggest fish in the sea turns up every month of the year.
A shoreline that glitters electric blue at the water's edge is one of the Maldives' most-shared images. The phenomenon is real — just not in the way the captions tell it.
For data, citations or interview requests, see the press room. Planning a trip around any of these? Start with our atoll guides.