A hidden forest of algae sponges and hydroids photographed at low tide; a stunning night image of green button polyps under ultraviolet light; and a beautiful shot of a honeycomb moray eel stuck on a ledge on a rocky shore. Mumbai may be a bustling metropolis, but photographer Sarang Naik’s aesthetic and vibrant images of marine life show a different side of the city.
When Naik first started exploring the coast of urban Mumbai, India’s financial capital and home to Bollywood stars, he was astounded by the diversity of creatures that he came across – from hermit crabs, barnacles and a baby octopus to zoanthids (colourful disc-shaped relatives of coral) and prickly sea urchins. The intertidal zone or foreshore – where the land is exposed at low tide and is under water at high tide – is home to diverse marine life over different terrains, from mudflats to beaches and mangroves.
“Most of my images have the creatures against the city in the background, reminding us that these creatures have been here way before us,” says Naik. “Even after three years of taking these shore walks, I am often blown away by the sight of some new coral or rare species. You don’t expect this kind of biodiversity in this concrete jungle.”
Clockwise from top: a honeycomb moray eel stranded at low tide at Breach Candy; a nudibranch sea slug on coralline algae; zoanthids glowing in UV Light at Malabar Hill rocky shore; squid babies inside an egg mass; an Elysia sea slug feeding on algae in a tide pool
Naik, who was born in the city, is a member of the Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), a collective of volunteers, marine biologists and enthusiasts co-founded by Pradip Patade, who played on Girgaum Chowpatty beach in southern Mumbai as a child. After he quit his job in human resources, Patade started teaching water sports and would walk along the shore taking pictures of the creatures he found there. He started MLOM with Abhishek Jamalabad, a marine biologist and certified diver, and Siddharth Chakravarty, an independent researcher in industrial fisheries, in February 2017.
Exploring Juhu Beach at low tide
Members upload their findings to iNaturalist, a biodiversity database accessed by expertsand have logged more than 484 species to date. MLOM’s Instagram page has records of sightings from common hairy crabs to pistol shrimp, nassa mud snails and even portuguese man o’ war.
An octopus at Juhu Beach
Jamalabad, who was born and raised in Mumbai, believes the intertidal zone has been largely neglected, not only in India, but across the world. “This is ironic because it’s one of the most accessible of all marine habitats and has a multitude of unique creatures. It also plays an important part in the ecology and lifecycle of creatures which live in the deeper parts of the ocean.
“The Indian Ocean squid, a commercially important species, breeds and lays its eggs in the intertidal zone. Many reef fish spend their juvenile period in this zone to avoid predatory creatures. Many fishermen not only depend on the high seas for their catch but also on the intertidal zone. Oyster picking is restricted to this zone and is a female-dominated occupation, unlike fishing. It is also important for the physical integrity of the coast, as it keeps it safe from the impact of storms,” he says.
Sejal Mehta, editor at MLOM, says that the resilience of the creatures found on Mumbai’s shores is constantly surprising. “As I started discovering the shores on different walks, from Haji Ali to Nepean Sea Road, what hit me was how prolific the marine life was in spite of all the plastic, sewage and marine pollution. It reminded me of the resilience of Mumbaikars who, despite all odds, thrive in this crowded and chaotic city.
“Some creatures, like the gorgonian sea fan corals, which you expect to only see in crystal clear pristine waters, are found here along the shores. Every time the tide recedes, it’s a new world that you are looking at. It’s as dynamic as the ebb and flow of the tides,” she adds.
A sea fan coral at Breach Candy; sponges, zoanthids, hydroids and algae at the Marine Drive shore; colourful nudibranch sea slugs
Shaunak Modi, director of Coastal Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that evolved from MLOM in 2019 to extend the model beyond citizen science and take it to other parts of India, says: “Though I grew up close to Juhu Beach, the narrative was always about the pollution, dirt and garbage, and I never expected to find any life on these shores. On one of my shore walks, I saw a cratena sea slug, an alien-looking creature that wowed me and cemented my place in MOLM. I was amazed at how much biodiversity existed on these shores.”
The diverse marine life exists despite the constant onslaught of development in the city. “We clearly should not build over the intertidal zone, but over 200 to 300 years this has been happening in Mumbai, with the shores getting landfilled for development,” says Jamalabad.
The controversial Coastal Road project, which will run alongside the Arabian sea for 18 miles (29.2km), threatens corals and olive ridley sea turtles among other creatures, say campaigners. “There was a lot of noise about the corals and some of it was translocated, but what about the other creatures and their habitats that would be affected by this development?” says Modi.
“The people who come on our walks are an extremely diverse bunch – from graphic designers to doctors and architects. All want to get to know their city better,” says Mehta. “Hopefully, this will translate into an increasing awareness and desire to protect the precious shores so that future generations can enjoy them.”
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