Nursery Maintenance in Low Season

Today Reef Rangers Hassan and Bakari headed out to the Swahili Nurseries for a maintenance and monitoring dive. May marks the beginning of the low season in Kenya, which runs until the end of July. This period typically brings rougher weather and challenging diving conditions to Diani. While our buddy team was fortunate to experience high underwater visibility, they also had to contend with a demanding current and surge.

Despite the poor diving conditions, our Reef Rangers completed essential maintenance to keep the mid-water coral nurseries afloat. They refilled air into eight buoyancy floaters and replaced damaged caps on three others, ensuring the nurseries remain properly suspended. They also performed an inspection of the sea floor beneath the structures, confirming that no live coral fragments had fallen out of our Swahili Nurseries.

After securing the coral nurseries, Hassan and Bakari moved on to monitor the coral colonies previously outplanted onto our coated metal cages. While the fragments remain securely tied, the team unfortunately observed further coral bleaching and mortality. This is a continuation of the thermal stress we have been monitoring following the high water temperatures earlier this year.

Restoration in a dynamic marine environment brings both progress and setbacks, and these losses underscore the vulnerability of our reefs during seasonal shifts. The team will continue to closely monitor the site and is waiting for the next safe weather window to head back out for continued maintenance and care.