Maldives My Islands - Enlightening and inspiring tales...

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SeaGear

The Pied Cuckoo: One of the Strangest Bird Records in the Maldives

The Pied Cuckoo: One of the Strangest Bird Records in the Maldives

Gracious Asian Koel: The Sound of Dawn – Your Natural ‘Alarm Clock’

Gracious Asian Koel: The Sound of Dawn – Your Natural ‘Alarm Clock’

Why 2026 Could Be the Luckiest Year to Discover the Maldives

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

Why 2026 Could Be the Luckiest Year to Discover the Maldives

Boxfish have an iconic body shape

Boxfish have an iconic body shape

Addu – the most unique atoll of the Maldives archipelago

Addu – the most unique atoll of the Maldives archipelago

AI illustration of a spotted eagle ray

The Stunning Spotted Eagle Ray

This is a series of articles I’ve chosen

A Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa) camouflaged against a dark, rocky reef background, highlighting its warty texture and sedentary posture.

The Deadliest Rock in the Maldives: Why You Should Never Step on a Gaa Viha Mas

In the shimmering, sun-drenched shallows of the Maldivian

Traditional Maldivian healers Hakeem Kudubae and Salih, pioneers of island healthcare

Island Healers of Fuvahmulah and Their Legacy

In the quiet stillness of the night, silence was often broken by frantic knocking on our simple wooden door. A familiar voice would call through the darkness: “Saliheybey!” In those moments, my father—one of the island’s few community health workers

Bodies of 4 Missing Divers Found in Maldives

Bodies of 4 Missing Divers Found in Maldives

Inside the Reef Cave That Nearly Took My Life

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

Inside the Reef Cave That Nearly Took My Life

Hulhangu: Flying Fish, Frigate Birds and the Wild Sea of Fuvahmulah

Hulhangu: Flying Fish, Frigate Birds and the Wild Sea of Fuvahmulah

Young Anglers vs. Fuvahmulah’s Giant Trevally

Young Anglers vs. Fuvahmulah’s Giant Trevally

Tiny Reef Guardians That Dare Challenge Tiger Sharks

Tiny Reef Guardians That Dare Challenge Tiger Sharks

Against the Wind: A Vedi Voyage Remembered

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

Against the Wind: A Vedi Voyage Remembered

BIODIVERSITY

Collage showing the five Italian divers who died during a cave diving incident in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives.

Bodies of 4 Missing Divers Found in Maldives

Yasir Salih

The bodies of the remaining four Italian divers missing after last week’s

Collage of marine life and monsoon scenes from Fuvahmulah during the Hulhangu season, featuring flying fish, frigate birds, giant trevally, sharks, manta rays, and rough ocean conditions along the island’s reef edge.

Hulhangu: Flying Fish, Frigate Birds and the Wild Sea of Fuvahmulah

Yasir Salih

Every year, when the southwest monsoon arrives in the Maldives, the sea

Collage featuring a tiger shark and a titan triggerfish in the reefs of Fuvahmulah, Maldives, illustrating the unexpected encounters between apex predators and territorial reef fish.

Tiny Reef Guardians That Dare Challenge Tiger Sharks

Yasir Salih

In the blue waters off Fuvahmulah in the southern Maldives, tiger sharks

A Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa) camouflaged against a dark, rocky reef background, highlighting its warty texture and sedentary posture.

The Deadliest Rock in the Maldives: Why You Should Never Step on a Gaa Viha Mas

Yasir Salih

In the shimmering, sun-drenched shallows of the Maldivian lagoons, where the water

The Maldives’ Deadly Glow

Yasir Salih

In the crystalline expanse of the Maldivian atolls, beauty often serves as

A collage of rare land birds and residents of the southern Maldives, featuring a White Tern (Gygis alba) perched on a branch and a Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) in the freshwater wetlands.

The Rare Birds of the Southern Maldives and the Equatorial Frontier

Yasir Salih

A biological lighthouse in the deep Indian Ocean, the southern atolls serve

Aerial view of powerful white waves crashing against the sharp coral reef edge of Fuvahmulah, transitioning into the deep blue ocean.

Faru: The Living Threshold of the Maldives

Yasir Salih

We were born on small islands where the vast ocean seems to

A diver approaching a large Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) at the famous Tiger Zoo dive site in Fuvahmulah, Maldives.

Fuvahmulah Reaffirms Global Dominance with Double Victory at Asia’s Largest Diving Expo

Yasir Salih

Fuvahmulah City has once again cemented its status as a premier global

Wave-Eroded Surge Channels on the Northwest Coast of Fuvahmulah

Fuvahmulah’s Horongo and the Power of the Open Sea

Yasir Salih

Far south of the familiar rings of the Maldivian atolls, a solitary

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FISHING

Collage of a fisherman landing a giant trevally on the rocky shoreline of Fuvahmulah, Maldives, with rough surf and dramatic storm clouds in the background

Young Anglers vs. Fuvahmulah’s Giant Trevally

Yasir Salih

Giant trevally — or maamudu, as we call it in our dialect

Aerial view of a traditional Maldivian dhoni boat floating on the turquoise coral reef edge where the shallow water meets the deep blue ocean.

Scales of the shallows

Yasir Salih

Beyond the deep-sea tuna chase, the Maldives’ true culinary treasures hide within

A close-up shot of several fresh Maldivian goatfish on white sand, showing their distinctive yellow stripes and barbels.

Goatfish of the Maldives and the Legend of the Whispered Sands

Yasir Salih

In the vast, turquoise expanse of the Maldivian atolls, a unique group

A two-pane collage featuring young fishermen in Fuvahmulah with their Yellowfin Tuna catch. The left image shows a fisherman on a blue boat at sea, holding a massive tuna upright. The right image shows a fisherman standing on a stone pier at the harbor, holding another large tuna.

From the Author’s Lens: A Morning with the Giants of Fuvahmulah

Yasir Salih

The Unique Frontier of Fuvahmulah Fuvahmulah is an anomaly in the Maldivian

A Kawakawa fish with its silver-patterned skin expertly removed to reveal the deep red muscle beneath, and the gut cavity cleaned with surgical precision. The fish is prepared according to the Maldivian 'Art of the Cut,' emphasizing clean lines and minimal waste.

From the Author’s Lens: The Art of the Maldivian Cut

Yasir Salih

In the Maldives, fishing is only the first half of the art;

Close-up of a black marlin

Deep Sea Giants: Tracking the Black Marlin at the Edge of Maldivian Atolls

Yasir Salih

WHERE THE CRYSTALLINE turquoise of the Maldivian lagoons meets the abrupt, bottomless

A fisherman on a small boat lifts a tuna from the ocean using a pole-and-line, with waves breaking behind the boat.

Fishing One Tuna at a Time: A Thousand-Year Tradition in the Maldives

Yasir Salih

At first light, the sea around the Maldives is calm enough to

Eel bait

The Blue Frontier: Decoding the Ancestral Rhythms of the Maldives

Yasir Salih

The air in the southern atoll of Fuvahmulah is thick with the

Photo collage showing five different Maldives reef fish species.

The Reef’s Bounty: Five Maldivian Fish Loved by Locals

Yasir Salih

The Reef’s Bounty: Five Maldivian Fish Loved by Locals The Maldives—a nation

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HISTORY AND CULTURE

Aerial view of the rugged reef front in Fuvahmulah, where powerful ocean waves crash over sharp coral rock formations and turquoise water surges through narrow reef channels near hidden cave-like openings.

Inside the Reef Cave That Nearly Took My Life

Yasir Salih

Saving the Shark Pups During the 27th day of Ramadan in the

Illustration of a traditional Maldivian vedi sailing through a violent storm beneath towering waves and lightning-filled skies.

Against the Wind: A Vedi Voyage Remembered

Yasir Salih

For centuries, the Indian Ocean shaped life in the Maldives. It provided

Midjourney illustration of Maldivian fishermen in a dhoni battling a large tiger shark in a stormy sea.

Guardians of the Deep and the Shark Myths of the Maldives

Yasir Salih

In the crystalline turquoise of the Maldivian lagoons, the world feels bounded

A close-up shot of a Pandanus tree (screw pine) featuring several segments of fruit. One prominent fruit is a vibrant, ripe orange, while others remain green and unripe. Long, slender green leaves surround the fruit, creating a dense, tropical texture.

The Whispering Keyvai and the Spirit Landscapes of the Maldives

Yasir Salih

Along the salt-sprayed fringes of the Maldivian atolls, where the white sand

The Maldives’ Deadly Glow

Yasir Salih

In the crystalline expanse of the Maldivian atolls, beauty often serves as

Dramatic illustration of a Maldivian Maalimee (navigator) steering a wooden wheel through the Phantom Sea (Kandumathi Elhun) on a dark, moonless night.

Unmasking the Science Behind the Maldives’ Most Feared Maritime Myth

Yasir Salih

On a moonless night in the remote Maldivian islands, the boundary between

An ancient Maldivian Banyan tree (Nika) with sprawling aerial roots, traditionally considered a sacred dwelling for spirits in island mythology.

Mystical Flora of the Atolls

Yasir Salih

The Sentinels of the Spirit World In Maldivian folklore, the forest is

A vast starlit night sky over the Maldivian ocean horizon, illustrating the traditional Nakaiy celestial navigation system.

The Nakaiy System and Maldivian Luck in the Year of the Fire Horse

Yasir Salih

In the velvet-black nights of the Maldivian atolls, long before the arrival

Aerial view of a pristine white sand beach and turquoise lagoon in the Maldives, showcasing the clear underwater world.

Why 2026 Could Be the Luckiest Year to Discover the Maldives

Yasir Salih

In the heart of the Indian Ocean, where the turquoise waters of

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