Did you know Kuredu had a resident Sperm Whale? Whale, kind of!

Those of you who had been at the Babuna Bar before may have noticed there is a huge skeleton above the bar.

During the late autumn of 1989, Ibrey Ahmed, divemaster, boat captain and later construction manager for Kuredu and Prodivers, heard a rumour from a friend that there was a fish skeleton on Maduvvary, an uninhabited island in the South-West of the Lhaviyani Atoll.

A team of Prodivers instructors joined Ibrey in visiting the island where they found a skeleton of a Sperm Whale. The head, partly buried in the sand, had been conserved for many months, with bones scattered along the beach.

Following long negotiations with the island owner, ownership of the skeleton was passed over to Prodivers. Ibrey, Staffan (owner of Prodivers) and some of the Dive Team worked hard to excavate the partially buried skull, before towing the remains behind a dhoni to Kuredu. Here it was cleaned by cleaning fishes and crabs for more than three months in the waters close to the jetty.

Initially the skeleton was located on pedestals outside the dive center, however in 1994 it was relocated to the Babuna Bar where it is still showcased today.

Every now and then, Sperm Whales would still pass by Kuredu – here are some impressions from the latest visit: