Dead fish, marine animals wash up your favourite Maharashtra beach

Fish and other marine life have been washing up on the country’s west coast for the past three days, leaving marine biologists baffled.
ReefWatch Marine Conservation, a nature conservancy group, said they have reports of fish, crabs and shrimp getting stranded on the coast near Alibaug in Maharashtra, Karwar in Karnataka and Varkala in Kerala between Saturday and Tuesday. The group said it received images and videos from volunteers that indicate the cause of the marine deaths could be similar. “There are two possible reasons we are looking at — low oxygen zones at sea pushing these organisms close to the shore or severe toxicity in the water. However, only a detailed study can reveal the exact cause,” said Nayantara Jain, executive director, ReefWatch Marine Conservation.
The Maharashtra Maritime Board said the deaths were a matter of concern. “We have never seen lakhs of fish species washing ashore at different beaches along the entire west coast,” said Atul Patne, chief executive officer, MMB
After collecting samples from the dead marine organisms that have washed up along India’s west coast, marine biologists have ruled out pollution as the cause of the deaths.
“The changing weather patterns, changes in temperature and several other hydrological factors leads to such incidents. However, we are certain that there is nothing to worry about and no alerts have been issued by us,” said an official from the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). “A report will be published by us by the end of this week, and it will be submitted to the district collector and the state government.”
Officials from the state mangrove cell that has setup marine rescue centres along the Maharashtra coast said that pollution can be ruled out, since incidents have been reported all along the western coast and it is not confined to an algal bloom, which is a localised pollution problem. Nutrients in pollutants can trigger algal blooms which can lead to depletion of oxygen in water, leading to death of marine organisms.
N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell, said that the incidents could have been caused due to combination of factors like rains and changes in water temperature. “Once the monsoon starts retreating, the lower most layer of the water comes up carrying nutrients. The process is also associated with shifts in temperatures between surface and deep waters,” he said. “Upwelling also leads to the formation of low oxygen zones, and this forces fish and other marine life to move closer to shallow waters. Wave action close to the shoreline further pushes these species to the beach where they get stranded.”
Some experts, however, did not rule out pollution. “Previous evidence of so many species washing ashore has been because of low oxygen in the water due to algal blooms caused by severe water pollution. This can be the probable cause for this as well. It has to be observed whether there is a change in the colour of the water to establish this,” said E Vivekanandan, consultant and senior scientist, CMFRI.
“Pollution cannot be ruled out and it could be a major factor as these areas (Alibaug, Karwar and Varkala) are all located close to offshore oilfields, and also are a major route for movement of ships,” said Dr Baban Ingole, chief scientist, National Institute of Oceanography.
Vasudevan added that CMFRI has been instructed to study the gills of the marine mammals to check for pollution and the cell will take further action based on their report.
-
Delhiwale: Portrait of a childhood
Noor Ahmad is just 14. More astonishing is the fact that despite being so young, he lives far from his family. Noor Ahmad explains that “when one doesn't have much money at home, then one has to go to distant places to earn money”. At night, he eats out in an eatery. While discussing his inability to attend school, Noor Ahmad remarks that he is not able to read English.
-
Khemka approaches HC seeking quashing of FIR
Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking quashing of an FIR registered in Panchkula under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Senior advocate RS Cheema is likely to appear for the IAS officer. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, managing director, Sanjeev Verma, on April 26 at Sector-5 police station in Panchkula. Verma, too, was booked on a complaint from Khemka.
-
Karnal: Basmati seeds recalled over poor germination
Amid complaints of poor germination, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute's regional centre in Karnal has recalled the seeds of Pusa Basmati 1509 variety of rice it sold to farmers. The quantity of seeds sold during this period was not disclosed, but it is said that it cost ₹80/kg. Officials have asked the farmers, who had bought the seeds during this period from here, to contact them by May 21 along with the receipt and seeds.
-
Mundka fire: Owners of building, factory to be quizzed; DNA samples of 26 taken
The Delhi Police on Monday said that they will seek the custody of the two businessmen who were running an industrial unit in a Mundka building where a devastating fire killed 27 people on Friday in order to question them along with the owner of the building. The Goyal brothers were arrested on Friday, and the owner, Manish Lakra was arrested on Sunday.
-
Attack by rival group: Three bodies fished out of Yamunanagar canal
A day after 10 persons had jumped into Western Yamuna Canal in Buria region of Yamunanagar after allegedly being threatened by a rival group, a team of the national disaster response force (NDRF) on Monday recovered three bodies. The deceased were identified as Nikhil, Sahil and Suleman, while Allaudin and Sunny are still missing, superintendent of police Kamaldeep Goyal said. All of them were between 18 and 22 years of age and residents of Jagadhri.