Black tip reef shark swims with other fish in a lagoon in Cocoon Lagoon in the Maldives. The Republic of Maldives has more than 1,100 species of fish colorfully populating its pristine, warm waters, which have an average temperature between 79 F and 93 F year-round. Sentinel photographer Shmuel Thaler captured these underwater photos with his iPhone 15 Pro Max using a protective ProShot case. The Maldives is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean named after the main island and capital of Male, and the name may derive from the Sanskrit word “maladvipa” meaning “garland of islands.” The Maldives’ 26 atolls make up the smallest country in Asia with a land area of 115 square miles and is home to about 521,000 people. Including the sea, the territory spans roughly 35,000 square miles and stretches across the equator in the Indian Ocean southwest of India and Sri Lanka. With the promulgation of the Maldivian constitution in 2008, Islam became the official state religion and land ownership and citizenship are restricted to Sunni Muslims. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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