GAAFARU Wrecks One of the main shipping routes through the Maldives is in the 10km wide channel between Gaafaru Falhu and the small atoll of Kaashidhoo. A number of ships have driften too far south in the channel, only to find themselves wrecked on Gaafaru Falhu. There are at least six wrecks recorded on Gaafaru Falhu. Some have been located but their identity has not been possitively confirmed. However evidence gathered in recent research by German auhtor Claus-Peter Stoll, shows the most likely identity of three of them.
SS Sea Gull *** The SS Sea Gull, a ship of 1012 tonnes with a crew of 32 and three passengers was wrecked in 1879, 200 metres north of the shallow entrance to Gaafaru. The anchor of the Sea Gull is on the reef at one metre and is visible at low tide. H.C.P. Bell, archaelogist of the Maldives, first visited the Maldives, first visited the Maldives in 1879 to investigate this wreck. Most of the ships is on the reef top at 45 degree to the reef edge. The remains are heavily encrusted in coral but certain parts can be distinguished. What looks like the engine and some rib sections lie just below the surface on the edge of the reef. At nine metres the reef starts to fall steeply away to more than 50 metres. There are many grouper around the areckage and a surprising number of spider shells There is one cave at 30 metres near the wreck but the wreck is the main feature of this dive.
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