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Kuredu Express, Fushivaru Kandu, Peak and KFFC are among some of the best dive sites, not only in the Lhaviyani Atoll, but in the Maldives for amazing shark encounters. Regular sightings of grey reef sharks, white tip reef sharks, silvertips, nurse sharks and leopard sharks are accompanied by the slight rarer encounters with hammerheads and tiger sharks!

Prodivers is well aware of the large and healthy population of sharks in the Lhaviyani Atoll and has been involved in numerous conservation and education projects, including the development of the Maldivian Shark & Ray Specialty Course. Ensuring a healthy shark population is not just great for the ecosystem, but also benefits the local economy – a fact that has largely been overlooked as shark populations around the world have been targetted for their fins to feed the Asian markets.

Prodivers were recently joined by Johanna Zimmerhackel, a PhD student from the University of Western Australia, who, together with her Maldivian colleague Khadeeja Ali, came to the Lhaviyani Atoll. Their purpose was to conduct a survey to learn more about the opinion of scuba divers on shark diving and the shark sanctuary of the Maldives. After spending a few days with the guests and team of Prodivers, they managed to interview a total of almost 60 guests as part of the survey.

Johanna and Khadeeja were also available for questions from curious scuba divers and staff and joined the team of Prodivers on their boats. On that occasion, they were fortunate enough to undertake their Scooter Specialty Course and witness Kuredu’s shark populations first hand.

By supporting Johanna’s project, Prodivers collaborates with the Global FinPrint project, a worldwide initiative to assess coral reef sharks and rays in order to further understand how they affect ecosystems, and inform emerging conservation actions. Johanna’s project is being funded by the Australian and the Maldivian governments and the PEW Charitable Trust.

Watch this space to find out the results from the survey!