Aquanauts Shafiya Naeem & Farah Amjad Go Down In History With Their Maiden Dive To The Depths

Monday 12th of September 2022

Two female aquanauts have made history in their maiden dive to the depths as the first people to do so from the Maldives. Yesterday, the duo descended deep into the Twilight zone in the pristine Laamu Atoll as part of the Maldives Mission by Nekton. The mission aims to collect vital data about the Indian Ocean in an effort to combat climate change that threatens the Maldives.

The brave Maldivian aquanauts are Shafiya Naeem, Marine Biologist and Director General of Maldives Marine Research Institute and Farah Amjad an Assistant Colleague to the mission. They are joined by American pilot Kimly Do, resulting in an all-women crew, plunging deep into the unknown.

Before making the descend, Shafiya and Farah waved the Maldivian flag inside the vessel, showing off their patriotism in this historic moment to all the nation. Aboard the Omega Seamaster II, the trio rolled out from the mothership, RV Odyssey shouldering huge expectations and hopes about the future of Maldives.

As one of the lowest lying countries in the world, Maldives is already bearing the brunt of Global Warming and climate change in the form of storm surges and increased frequency of coral bleaching events.

In Laamu, data would be collected about the wall of coral and marine life along the east coast of the atoll from depths of 60m, 120m and even 250m during the deep-dive survey. The mission spans for 35 days, providing valuable data for governments to make informed decisions about climate change and therefore, increase resilience on sustainability.

The 5-weeks mission is undertaken by joint partnership between the UK Marine Research Institute, Nekton and the Government of the Maldives. With 40 partners, 24 international and 16 local, 2 state-of-the-art submersibles have been deployed for the mission. 10 Maldivian scientists will descend into the waters during the mission.