When looking for wildlife experience, people often imagine vast forests or deep oceans far away from cities. However, urban wildlife continuously adapts as we encroach on their natural habitats. For example, consider life along our cities' coast, shores, and rivers. Some organisations are trying to raise awareness about this with coastal walks, festivals, workshops, and other activities. One such is Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), a citizen group that aims to show you the diverse range of marine life that thrives off the coast of the maximum city. Their walks take you on a journey of rediscovery of these overlooked natural treasures. We talked with Shaunak Modi of MLOM, a marine life enthusiast and nature photographer based out of Mumbai. He is also a co-founder of Coastal Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to conserving and protecting the coastal and marine environments. Here are excerpts from the talk.
What's the idea behind Marine Life of Mumbai?
Marine Life of Mumbai, or MLOM, started as a simple idea - to familiarise people with the intertidal zone and the city’s marine life. We began as a collective; people from various walks of life came together for the love of aquatic life. We started as a citizen-driven collective. Today, MLOM is the flagship outreach project of the Coastal Conservation Foundation. But even today, citizen science is at its core. We’ve also worked to build a community around tide pooling, and it is this community that helps us drive the project forward.
In what way do citizens contribute to raising awareness about marine life along the coast of Mumbai?
In many ways, their biggest contribution is helping us document intertidal biodiversity. So far, 169 people have contributed to the MLOM database. We also have people who volunteer their time and skills for the project.
Tell us more about the walks and other events you host.
We host several different kinds of walks. During the spring low tides every month, we conduct shorewalks on sandy and rocky shores across the city and mangrove walks at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary in Airoli. On both these walks, we explore the intertidal to look for marine life. Our Dockyard Chronicles walk at Sassoon Docks focuses on the dock’s history and understanding the world of fisheries. Besides these walks, we host art and nature journaling workshops and marine meetups where we invite people working in the marine space to talk about their work.
Why do you think it is important for people to know about the creatures along the coast?
The same reason why it’s essential to know about wildlife in a forest is that it’s our natural heritage. What is often overlooked is that they’re also thriving ecosystems. Like forests have predators, grazers, scavengers, and vegetation, our shores do too. The intertidal also protects coastal settlements from storms and sea surges and is an essential source of sustenance and a means of livelihood for these communities and the city at large. Yet being in such proximity to the city puts it under direct threat from anthropogenic activities such as large-scale development and pollution. The intertidal area is where the land and sea meet and where ocean conservation begins.
Any interesting encounters?
There are many! Shores are full of surprises, and I have been fortunate enough to have had some fantastic experiences over the years. We found some cuttlefish eggs at Juhu Beach on a late evening walk. I flashed a light on it, and a figure from inside the egg looked back at me. I was lost in that moment. There aren’t many places that allow you to witness a beautiful moment like this.