Tide Pooling in Vizag to throw light on marine life by the city’s coast

It is a known fact that different types of pollution are affecting life around us. Vizag being the industrial hub of the state, is proving to be responsible for heavily polluting the sea. Increasing sea traffic, the release of toxic industrial waste are a couple of the many factors affecting the marine life of the Indian East Coast. In a bid to create awareness of the situation, the East Coast Conservation Team (ECCT) of Vizag is conducting a Tide Pooling event for the citizens. The event is scheduled to commence at 2 PM on 28 February 2021.

With the upcoming Tide Pooling event, ECCT, a conservation and research organisation from Vizag, intends to educate the general public on various marine animals found at the city’s shores. Sharing more details about the event, Pranav, a marine biologist and a member of ECCT says, “We at ECCT, constantly conduct research. Subsequently, we come up with an action plan for the conservation of marine life. Currently, we are only a few organisations working on the said conservation. Hence we intend to include the general public for our routine walks and surveys and make them aware of the marine life and the threats they face.”

With changing tides of the ocean, twice every month, the waters of the bay tend to move approximately 2 metres away from land. As Vizag’s coast consists of few rocky shores, seawater along with intertidal organisms tend to settle in those pockets. According to Pranav, this period of time is when we get to study different species of the sea from close proximity. One can get a chance to study starfish, sea urchins, sea anemones, and different types of fish at this event. “If we find anything new, we collect data and create a checklist. We also encourage citizens to use the ‘iNaturalist’ application, where they can upload data on such creatures themselves. This would prove extremely helpful for conservationists,” says Pranav. iNaturalist is a platform for naturalists and citizens where they can record observations on different biodiversity.

“At our event, we explain about different vulnerable marine species to our participants. If we’re lucky enough, we might even spot octopuses and sea cucumbers,” informs Pranav. ECCT encourages parents to bring young kids to such events to educate them on marine wildlife, hoping they would grow to become conservationists themselves. This event is financially in collaboration with Greenpaw initiative which funds such conservation projects.

For further details on the event, you can contact +91 99013 2873.