Gujarat scientists spot rare, endangered sea cows off Andaman coast during survey

Bashir Pathan, Express India 1 Jun 08

Gandhinagar, May 31 Researchers at the Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Ecology and Environment Research (GEER) Foundation have succeeded in sighting the rare and endangered dugongs (sea cows) – off the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the on-going national-level survey of the animals.

A two-member team comprising GEER Foundation scientists Dr Bharat Jethwa and Parimal Solanki, who went to the islands last month, encountered the marine mammals while snorkelling off the waters of Neil Island along the South Andaman coast.

"It was a thrilling experience for me and my fellow researchers to catch the sight of dugongs and also snorkel along with one of them in the blue waters of the picturesque Neil Island," Solanki told this paper on Saturday.

Last April, the Union Environment and Forest Ministry had asked the GEER Foundation to conduct a national-level survey, following reports that the population of the legendary dugongs along the Indian coast was on the verge of extinction. The Union Ministry has now asked the Foundation to submit its report to it by March 2009.

"As part of the survey, teams of our researchers have started visiting the coastal states to identify the threat to the dugong population and also understand and assess the critical issues for the conservation of the marine mammals and their habitat," said GEER Foundation's Director C N Pandey.

The Centre – sponsored project would also provide a much-needed exposure to researchers and help them contribute a lot to marine biodiversity – related research works.

During the current survey, the research team conducted a field visit to as many as 60 coastal villages in the Gulf of Mannar and another 40 villages along the Palk Bay in Tamil Nadu to ascertain whether sea cows do exist off the coast of Tamil Nadu. The researchers, however, could not sight any dugongs off the Lakshdweep coast.

The survey team also extensively visited the Saurashtra coast. Although they failed to spot the marine mammals, local fishermen confirmed to the team members that dugongs have often been spotted in the area. "The fact that the dead body of a dugong was recovered near the Dwarka coast last December clearly suggests that sea cows do exist off the Saurashtra coast," said Jethwa.

The research team will now begin a survey in other maritime states like Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Dugongs are herbivorous marine mammals and protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. They are also listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and globally classified as "vulnerable to extinction" due to an average population decline rate of nearly 20 per cent in the last 90 years. "Their habitat requirement and slow rate of reproduction render them vulnerable to anthropogenic activities and the marine mammals are threatened by hunting, net captures, pollution and haphazard coastal development," said a senior researcher.