Turtle overgrazing

Turtle overgrazing

    Turtles are endangered and listed in the schedule wildlife of India (Wildlife Protection Act, 1972). Conservation biologists and along with certain NGO’s are involved in protecting turtles. Among the 5 species recorded in India, sea grass is predominantly eaten by the Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas. While there are hundreds of conservation programmes to protect sea turtles, I was surprised to know that in the Lakshadweep, the islanders complained that sea turtles are playing havoc on the sea grass beds. “These turtles eat away the seagrass like a lawn mower” complained one aged islander. Sea grass beds aid in strengthening the holding capacity of benthic sediments and avoid soil erosion. If there is a loss in the sea grass cover, the probability of erosion is on the higher side. This was the unanimous view of the islanders. I was unable to digest this fact that the islanders placed on an endangered marine vertebrate.

      I had the opportunity to interact with the Environmental Warden of Agatti island, Lakshadweep. He agreed with the view of the islanders and I had to half believe him because he is a hardcore marine biologist himself. He shared his youthful days where he and his friends were involved in “turtle rides” – holding the carapace of the turtle towards the head region and going wherever it leads! I was able to picture the scene of their wonderful short -migratory rides.

The next day, I visited an area on the eastern side of the island where, at neap tides, the sea grass beds were exposed. A neap tide is a lowest low tide in a tide cycle. I walked closer to the beds walking past sea cucumbers, crabs, sea anemones and of course, busy shoals of fish. And yes, I could see with my own eyes the stubs of sea grass with no shoots but for fresh shoots coming up here and there. It was as if someone had pruned them to a specific height the entire region. I had to believe the islanders though I was unable to still blame it on one of the oldest animals on earth!

Nature has its own ways of adjustment, and even in an ecosystem like sea grass, there is a phase to avoid overgrowth. The question in case of Lakshadweep is, should we save the sea grass or should we save the turtles? I tried to pose this question to the islanders. I am still in search of a concrete answer.

Unusual Head

Sharks have always displayed aggression, agility and preying capabilities among fishes. Being a cartilaginous fish, they are considered one of the most fearsome predators underwater. About 400 and odd species of sharks have been recorded worldwide and India, boasts about good shark diversity in its coastal waters. The only enemy this marine predator faces now is Homo sapiens (humans)! According to a FAO data, India harvests more than 18000 tons of sharks per year to win the prestigious second place in the world for doing so. BUT FOR WHAT is the question in the minds of many for which the answer is “for it’s fins”. Hundreds of sharks are killed in a day just for their fins that finally lands somewhere in Hong Kong China as gourmet. I was visiting one of the fish landing centers at Parangipettai, Cuddalore coast of Tamil Nadu.

The landing center had some fine food fishes and the market scene was complete with fish mongers, fishermen, middle men and representatives from big export companies. There were fishes represented from many families and the sizes were from the smallest sardines to a huge manta ray. It was a complete early morning scenario of a busy fish landing centre. I was surprised to see a unique representative of the shark, the “hammer head” being sold in the auction. My surprise turned into a curiosity to have a closer look at the auctioning point.

This hammer head shark Sphryna zygaena is a rare shark inhabiting coastal waters feeding on a wide variety of carnivorous diet. They are named so because of its head that are flattened and laterally extended into a shape similar to a “hammer”. The eyes are borne at the tip of the hammer-like structure. Scientists debate that this structure was an evolutionary adaptation to increase visibility while feeding.

The auction began and finally, a woman in her late 50’s took the animal for a price of INR 90. Our conservation efforts are going down the drain in want of awareness programmes and alternate livelihood options to the fishing communities. Where are we heading is a major question to be answered! We are harvesting our resources for a consumer abroad. What sorry state of affairs!

Just Flowers!

“What nature has for us” – all photos shot at Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh

Beach Walk

One feels happy or surprised to see something unusual on the beach. I am one of them! I have seen so many animals wandering about in the beach looking for something to eat. If one prepares a check list, domesticated animals fall within the category of animals spotted in a beach. I happened to see a cow and its calf having a stroll on the beach one day. They were so oriented that they never stepped into the water or walked away from the high tide mark but just kept walking on the wet area in the mid tide level. There was a lot of food available in the debris deposited by waves on the shore inclusive of watermelon peels, banana leaves etc.. but this did not excite the animals as they walked steadily. It was 6 pm and I was walking along the beach like the animals in the Holiday Inn Resort, Goa when this scene caught my eye. There were stray dogs running about here and there to find something to eat but they never dared to come near the cud chewers. The mother was keeping an eye on everything happening around her though the calf was a few paces back. The calf did maintain its distance and never moved away from the distance it had maintained throughout.

Animals know their environment very well! The truth is we hardly know anything!! If we remember, Tsunami killed so many human beings right from Indonesia to India. The reported deaths of animals come from domesticated ones that were tied up. They did not have a chance to escape! Animals living in the wild knew that this incident was going to occur by the cues they receive from the environment. Even the Jarwa tribes of the Andamans escaped from Tsunami by climbing on top of trees. Who taught them? They live with nature too! Is technology weaning us away from nature?? One has to think about this! God has given us a responsibility to understand and protect our environment. A couple of reminders from Genesis.

Genesis 1:25 – God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1:28 – God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The amazing footprints!

It was a late sunset and I took an evening walk along the eastern beach of Agatti island, Union Territory of Lakshadweep in the mid of December, 2011. I usually keep my eyes wide open to collect shells or other “treasures” from the beach buried in the beautiful milk-white sand. As I kept walking, I realized that my foot was imprinted in the sand and, to my surprise, created a regular pattern. I immediately wanted to recognize any foot mark or other configurations on the beach sand created naturally other than humans.
Most of the animal visitors on the shore include birds, domestic pets or turtles. As there were a lot of poultry birds raised by the islanders, I was confident I will be coming across some foot prints because these birds were usually busy digging the debris accumulated in the shore caused by tides or deposited from domestic wastes. And yes I did find some! Just a few meters away, I could see a flock of aquatic birds skipping busily in synchrony with the movement of waves. I sluggishly walked towards them as they deliberately started to hop away from me. They did finally fly away, but I got the opportunity to see a pattern of their footprint. I was smiling within and telling myself “look at my footprint and look at yours! How dissimilar!”
I took a couple of strides to be taken by shock to gaze at a trail created by a snake. I was so confident that this snake could be a land snake but I did remember the islanders informing me that there are no terrestrial snakes in the islands. Was it a sea snake then? Sea snakes very rarely came to the shore and they leave a wavy trail behind. I was confused. After I got a clear picture of it, I was unable to take my mind away. I found a cozy place under a tree that was lying on the highest high tide level of the beach. I stretched myself in the evening cool breeze in the partially wet sand. Few minutes passed and I felt something tickling my neck! It was a hermit crab – a crab that lives in the shell of dead mollusks and finds new bigger shells as they keep growing. I took the little brat in my hand and put it aside. It started to come out of the shell after a short pause and then started to carry the shell it was in as if it was a burden.

My eyes popped out to see the pattern that it was creating, exactly similar to the one I thought to have been created by a snake. Wow, there was my answer! I followed it and found that there were many markings in the sand like it.
Our wisdom is so limited and what we know is too, too little. I thanked God for reminding me that the Creator is amazingly brilliant to create every animal with unique amazing footprints!

Sea snake

Sea snake

“That is Grub Island” screamed in excitement the Assistant Conservator of Forests from Haddo, Port Blair. I was excited to visit this small island, with a tiny beach, hillock, peak, a reef and evergreen vegetation.  For a first time visitor like me, it was a “dream come true”.

GRUB ISLAND

The nearly two hours traverse by boat from the national park’s entrance to this island was marvelous in the Andaman. What added to this stimulation was the feeling of setting our foot on an important protected area. This is open only to important officials or the enforcement forest staff of the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

From afar, it was a paradise; the aquamarine water was inviting me to plunge in. The closer we moved towards the island, a feeling of intimacy crept into my mind.  I could see a shelter hut created by the department and wished I could run to the shelter it was providing as fast as I could to escape the scorching heat. When I came around and entered the hut, my heart skipped a beat. There was a snake basking in the shade provided by the hut! Looking at the colour I was able to identify the snake as a sea snake and I screamed “Guys, we have a reptilian host here!” and everyone who had accompanied me ran to see the animal.

Sea snake under the shelter of a resting hut!

Sea snakes are sluggish in land whereas while in water, they have better motility. One can differentiate a sea snake from the terrestrial counterpart by the presence of a very small head (exception to some species) and an oar like tail which aids in locomotion. It looked like Hydrophis sp, since I am not a herpetologist; I was unable to confirm it to species level. To my wonder the forest watcher revealed to us that this particular snake was a regular visitor to this island. During daytime it visited the island, rested in the shade provided by the hut and disappeared at twilight.

I have seen snakes at reefs outside water but was really stunned to notice that this reptile was staying out of water every day for long hours. Hmmmm….. This is just a part of what the creator had created!

Interestingly serpent¹ is one among the two animals that spoke. It’s cunning words deceived Eve and led to man’s downfall. The other animal being a donkey ridden by a prophet named Balaam². The fact that SEA SERPENT is mentioned in the bible, enthused the marine biologist in me³. I encounter creation almost every day in my field and this brings immense intimacy with my creator. Whatever said and done, we did see a snake, a sea snake, probably the only host we can ever think of in a remote island like the Grub!

1. Genesis 3      2. Numbers 22   and     3. Job 7:12 and Psalm 74:13

Whale or a Whale Shark?

It was around 11 am in the morning and my mobile rang while I was at my office. It was from the Wildlife Warden of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. “Deepak, there is a huge marine animal stranded and forest informers have said that it looks like a whale shark. Are you interested to have a look at it?’ he asked me. Wow, that was a great opportunity thrown at me and I immediately responded with excitement “Of course sir”. After nearly 35 minutes of travel, we reached the village under the Erwadi zone and from there it was a terrific drive on the sand dunes to reach the shore. There it was! A huge animal indeed! My curiosity increased because from afar, the head region did not seem to match the whale shark as claimed by forest informers.

Mouth region of the stranded whale

The FLUKE part

By the way, Whale shark Rhincodon typus is the biggest fish on earth and the interesting fact is that – it’s a filter feeder. One can easily identify a whale shark from a whale (which is a mammal) by just looking at the tail (this is when you find a stranded animal). Sharks have vertical pointed tails (HETEROCERCAL tail) whereas whales have horizontal tails (called as FLUKE). I had a closer inspection and admired the size. It was measuring around 11 meters and should be weighing not less than 2 tons (the body was decomposed and was emanating a foul smell). Immediately I got some good shots with my Canon Pro cam and explained to the foresters and ACF that it was not a Whale shark but a Whale. Once reaching my office, I mailed the images to my good friend Nithy, an excellent marine biologist who has a special interest for marine mammals to confirm the species. What surprised me was the dedication of my friend. He called me nearly 6 times from Kuwait (the lines were on and off) and got field descriptions from me. He suspects it to be a Bryde’s whale, (pronounced as BRUTUS) one of the great whales or rorquals and are coastal dwelling. There are three species under this group of Balenopterans meaning posession of Baleen plates namely Baleonoptera brydei, B. edeni and B. omurai. It was very difficult for us to confirm the species but skin and flesh samples were taken for DNA analysis by forest officials. In the evening, my mind shifted from the thoughts of the stranded whale and I was focussed on Jonah. A big fish swallowed him! He spent 3 days in its belly! In Hebrew it reads dag gadol (Hebrew: דג גדול), which literally means “great fish.” He disobyed God, was swallowed, spent time in prayer in the belly of a great fish, and was saved. The Fish here is an instrument God had used to pass on His salvation. The Creator uses His creation in His own sweet way to instruct and teach us. Was it a whale or a big fish that swallowed Jonah?

My wisdom starts to play pranks but then all I have to remember is that the Marvelous Creator is there to help us in times of trouble! Just listen to His instruction and follow it!

The Stranded stranger

Symbiotic shrimps!

Anemone Shrimp on a biscuit wrapper

It was a field trip to Vaan Island of the Tuticorin group, Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve. The incoming solar radiation was starting to tan my skin as I was sitting on the trawler hired by the Forest Department to visit this beautiful, uninhabited and protected island. I was not alone but was in company with foresters and rangers, most of them first timers to the open sea. I was one of the resource persons training this bunch of enforcement staff on marine diversity but, this was my day and I was the boss. How I love to go on field visits and share the limited knowledge I have about the oceans. I remember acknowledging the oceans in my doctoral thesis – “I thank the oceans for helping me to reveal an atom of its mysteries”. My passion for the ocean seems to increase day by day bringing me closer and closer and asking more and more of me to contribute. We landed at Vaan Island after nearly an hour of trawler ride and instantly I cleared the air by catching the attention of my “students” saying “this is Protoreaster linckii, a common but a stunning starfish of the Gulf of Mannar region”. This was the beginning for a practical classroom! It kicked off well however, some of them in their late fifties felt the heat kill them while the younger staff were keen and right behind me bringing marine animals or plants to be identified. One of the foresters asked me “Sir, can you identify all the marine organisms of our area?”  I gave a smile back at him and said “I wish I could but unfortunately, I cannot”.

The Colourful Shrimp

A couple of minutes after the statement I made, we came across a sea anemone but that was not all. I saw something moving over the anemone! I took a closer gaze and to my revelation I saw a pair of anemone shrimps. They exhibit symbiosis with sea anemones which gives them protection from predators and the shrimps in turn are able to provide food for the anemones. I was unable to identify them and with the help of a piece of  biscuit wrapper that I had in my hand,  I carefully scooped up the larger one. I was astonished by the colors it had on its body orange, white, blue, purple, yellow and it was transparent! At once I took my digital cam and shot a few good close pictures. I thought to myself “God, so much to see and so much to learn, give me the strength and wisdom to catch hold of some”. Though the field trip ended with a bundle of good memories, the colors of one small shrimp made me wonder how great the Creator of these small things could be. What a perfectionist!