Beached in Goa
On July 2 this year, two olive ridley turtles were found entangled in fishing nets at Cavelossim, a village in south Goa. “I was there on duty at the time,”…
Towards better prediction of coral bleaching
Off the coast of Red Skin Island in the Andamans, it was a colourful world that marine biologist Vardhan Patankar dived into in the summer of 2016. Here, corals wore…
Twenty years in the making: Where is India’s National Plan of Action for shark fisheries?
Among the many threatened marine species in the world, shark populations exhibit some of the most worrying trends. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s latest assessment, 139…
What would happen if the oceans are completely covered with plastic?
That single-use plastics in oceans can affect coastal habitats, marine organisms and even seafood, is today well documented. But can small fragments of plastic bags and straws change large-scale oceanographic…
Mumbai’s fishers relieved after courts pause the coastal road project
Fifty-two-year-old Moreshwar Namdeo Koli is a fisherman whose family has been fishing in the Arabian sea off the Mumbai coast for the past three generations. His is among the 15,000…
Where do fish go for a spa?
“The most extreme thing about the ocean is its sheer, inconceivable size. In that enormous volume – the biggest habitat on earth – lives a kaleidoscope of animals, plants, microbes…
Citizen scientists to scout for wildflowers across four countries
A cross-country crowdsourcing campaign aims to map wildflowers in four countries -- India, Ethiopia, Turkey and Indonesia. The countries have an incredibly high richness of plant species. But updated data…
Seabird poop may enhance coral reef recovery after bleaching
Restoration of seabird populations can help quicker recovery of reefs following bleaching events, finds a study on coral reefs around the Chagos archipelago in the central Indian Ocean, which were…
Microplastics and colourants found in mussels from India’s southeast coast
Microscopic plastic particles and colourants have been detected inside the commercially important Asian green mussel Perna viridis from a fishing harbour in Chennai for the first time in a preliminary…
Your environment this week: India’s disappearing insects, tiger den in Veerappan’s lair, sand mining crisis
This week’s environment and conservation news stories rolled into one. To receive a weekly email with a roundup of our stories, please sign-up to our newsletter. A millennial trains to spruce…
