Vaadhoo (Raa Atoll)

For other islands, see Vaadhoo (disambiguation).

Vaadhoo (Dhivehi: ވާދޫ) is one of the inhabited islands of Raa Atoll, Maldives. Famous for the bioluminescent plankton (Redhan), an annual bioluminescent phenomenon known as "The Sea of Stars" is visible from this island.

Vaadhoo ވާދޫ
Inhabited island
Vaadhoo Location in Maldives
Coordinates: 05°51′19″N 72°59′27″E
Country	Maldives
Administrative atoll	Northern Maalhosmadulu Atoll
Distance to Malé	194.46 km (120.83 mi)
Dimensions
• Length	1.450 km (0.901 mi)
• Width	0.400 km (0.249 mi)
Population  (2022)[1]
• Total	452
Time zone	UTC+05:00 (MST)

Geography

The island is 194.46 km (121 mi; 105 nmi) north of the country's capital, Malé.^[2]

Ecology

Vaadhoo island is famous for the 'sea of stars.' This marine bioluminescence is generated by phytoplankton known as dinoflagellates. Woodland Hastings of Harvard University has for the first time identified a special channel in the dinoflagellate cell membrane that responds to electrical signals—offering a potential mechanism for how the algae create their unique illumination.

Demography

Total population of the island was more than 500 in 2007.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
2006	320	—
2014	375	+17.2%
2022	452	+20.5%
2006-2014-2022: Census populations Source: [3][1]