Staghorn Gardens

The southern shallows of Chumbe Island shelter one of the most intact stands of branching Acropora coral in the western Indian Ocean, the staghorn and table forms spreading across a gently sloping terrace from 2 to 14 metres. The garden survived the 1998 coral bleaching event better than virtually any reef in the channel, partly due to its protected lagoon position. Juvenile fish use the staghorn thickets as nursery habitat, so the density of small reef fish is extraordinary — every coral head is its own micro-ecosystem.