We were very happy to be able to carry out our Reef Check activities at Marsa Shagra and Wadi Lahami this year. This one is a special one as it is the 15th year since we started the reef monitoring programme.
Our team scientist, Stephan Moldzio, gave the Reef Check Eco Diver Course to 6 course paticipants and then led a team of 12 eco divers who carried out surveys at five sites: Marsa Shagra north & south, Marsa Egla north and Wadi Lahami sheltered & exposed.
The team found an average hard coral cover of 49.5% across all five survey sites and both depths. This is substantially higher than the 39,1% average hard coral cover reported for the northern/ central Red Sea in 2019 in the Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2020 (GCRMN, 2020).
In general, coral cover was higher at the shallow 3.5m depth level than at the 8.5m level, for both hard and soft corals.
Marsa Shagra House Reef north, showed the highest level of coral coverage, at 65% at 3.5m depth. In addition to more than 30 years of consistent protection, the extraordinary width of the reef top probably contributes to the abundance of fish and high species diversity.
We would like to thank all the participants for giving their time to participate in these surveys which are essential for monitoring the health of our local coral reefs.
You can read the full report here.
If you would like to become a certified Eco Diver, or are already certified and would like to participate in our surveys, keep an eye on our Reef Check page for upcoming dates.
