Spot the Masquerade on Mumbai's Shores

Masquerade on Mumbai's shores, featuring the marine life of Mumbai, and the death of the marine life of Mumbai: the Coastal Road! Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Chilka's new Ambassador Fishing Cat

Chilka, India's largest lagoon has been fraught with conservation issues. Chilka's official ambassador, the Fishing Cat, takes you on a quick boat ride in my column with Roundglass Sustain. The comic has been created with inputs from my friend Tiasa Adhya, co-founder of The Fishing Cat Project, who has been working to save Fishing Cats in Chilka. 

Decorator Worm and Costume Design

India's most sustainable costume designer, the Decorator Worm, meets Sanjay Leela Bhansali in my column with Roundglass Sustain.

Biodiversity Map of Mumbai

The first images that one's mind conjures upon hearing the name Mumbai, are either a city full of skyscrapers and slums, or the promenades along Marine Lines and Bandra. But Mumbai is also replete with a unique blend of biodiversity. From a forest ruled by leopards in the heart of the city to beaches full of bizarre shore wildlife, from wetlands dotted pink with flamingos to mangroves splashing red with fiddler crabs, Mumbai has them all! Here is an illustration done for Purpose's campaign 'Mumbai's Ministry of Magic', with the motive to empower Mumbai's youth with a visual resource of the city's biodiversity, and a reminder to the government of the natural heritage we must conserve and coexist with. The map also pays tribute to the Warli and Koli communities, and the very spirit of Mumbai.

My thanks to Ms. Suma Balaram, Ms. Arpita Bhagat and their team for commissioning this once-in-a-lifetime project! My gratitude to friends at Marine Life of Mumbai, Ms. Madhushri Mudke and my brother Rohit Chakravarty for their inputs. A hat tip to the maverick herpetologists Zeeshan Mirza and Rajesh Sanap for discovering the invertebrates and reptiles from Aarey Colony that feature in the map. Click on the images to view details from the map:

 

Tips to save the Tuturuatu

Any conservationists / ornithologists / birders from New Zeaand here? I recently learned that the Tuturuatu or the Shore Plover is not just among the world's most endangered waders, but it also a very difficult bird to conserve, because it refuses to cooperate with conservationists! To save this species threatened from introduced predators and habitat loss, scientists have been trying to establish Tuturuatu populations on predator-free islands like Waikawa, Chatham, Mana. But in a recent conservation setback, an entire colony of Tuturuatus (not known to be long-distance flyers) disappeared from Mana, presumably flying off to a different island! Meanwhile, populations in Waikawa have been on the path to recovery, with the island now boasting of 24 breeding pairs.

Here are some tips to make Tuturuatus potentially cooperate with conservation measures better! Comic from my Gocomics page.

Sea Shells and Ecology

Why you must not collect sea shells. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day

Reduced Fishing Ban in India

It's World Oceans Day today. As the rest of the world celebrates the day with posters and messages about turtle, dolphin and shark conservation, India grapples with a more cardinal issue: the reduction of the fishing ban period along India's coastal waters in a bid to counter the impacts of the COVID lockdown on our fisheries. It just takes putting two and two together to see how marine conservation is linked with the welfare of fishworkers, and a blow to one means a blow to the other. 

The Grey Mullet fish mulls out loud in my column with The Hindu.

Cyclone Management and Mangroves

As India braces itself for Cyclone Amphan in the middle of a pandemic, let us remember that our very first line of defence against cyclones, mangroves, are under threat from both the Central and State governments. Some of these threats are the MoEFCC's ill-conceived policy of waiving EIAs for onshore oil and gas exploration, its draft EIA which will do away with clearance regulations for various projects along the coasts at the cost of mangroves, and unplanned development and construction along coasts by various state governments by clearing mangroves.

Fishing Industry and Covid Lockdown

Among the worst victims of the abrupt lockdown to curb the spread of COVID in India has been the fishing industry. Numerous boats out at sea for days were taken completely unawares by the lockdown, and with all transport or storage facilities abruptly shut, are having to dump their catch right back into the sea. This isn't just a waste of sea food, but a major blow to both the livelihoods of coastal communities and India's coastal economy. The crisis calls for immediate intervention by authorities to ensure that no more of the catch goes waste, and better policy on the insurance of finances for fishermen in the long run.

Biodiversity of Coastal Maharashtra

An illustrated map of the coastal biodiversity of my home state, Maharashtra, done for WWF India's Mumbai office, and released at the recently concluded Coastwise Festival. A big thanks to WWF India's Mumbai team for commissioning the project!

Indian Research on Coral Bleaching

A new study by marine biologists (lead author T. Thinesh of Pondicherry University) delves into previously unexplored details of coral bleaching. These findings are bound to help reef recovery and translocation efforts across Indian marine waters. Join the Powder Tang fish (yes, that's really the name of this species) to kkow more, in this comic from my column with The Hindu.

Adani Port and Pulicat Fisherwomen

Pulicat's fisherfolk are fighting Adani's expansion of the Kuttapally Port with a seafood festival at the Chennai Kalai Theru Vizha over the weekend, in collaboration with InSeason Fish. To learn how seafood can be consumed in a way that supports sustainable fisheries, follow InSeason Fish for more informtion.

Panjim- an Urban Biodiversity map

A biodiversity and heritage map of the Goan capital Panjim, commissioned by ICLEI South Asia. Situated on the banks on the Mandovi River, Panjim is dotted with a rich network of estuaries and mangroves, which are home to diverse coastal flora and fauna. Migratory waders throng Panjim's beaches and mudflats along the Ribandar causeway and the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, which is also home to estuarine reptiles like the Glossy Marsh Snake. The mangrove ecosystem along the coast host many commercially important fish, crustaceans and the elusive Smooth-coated Otter.  Goa's proximity to the Western Ghats ensures that a variety of endemic insects and herpetofauna make Goa their home, including the Goan Shadow Dancer perched on the title of the map. The star of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin dwells where the estuaries of Panjim meet the sea. Innovative but endangered traditional livelihoods which Goan communities have evolved such as the Goan salt-pans and sluice-gate fishing, are depicted on the map.

Some of Panjim's most important heritage buildings also feature on the map. The illustration style itself pays tribute to Goa's iconic Azulejos tile art, which came with the Portuguese and became Panjim's visual identity. A Goan rooster perches on the map's compass. As Panjim grapples with rapid expansion as Goa's capital city, the illustration is meant to serve as a reminder of what the city must preserve and coexist with.

A huge thanks to my dear friend and Goan conservation biologist Nandini Velho, my partner and ICLEI's Assistant Manager Rithika Fernandes, Sayeesh Pirankar and Hycintha Aguiar (ICLEI) and Goan tree expert Dr. Usha Desai for their generous help and inputs for the map (and for some lip-smacking food recommendations!).  Thanks to ICLEI for commissioning a series of delightful, exploratory and experimental map projects. The illustration is available in a high resolution here. 

Here are a few close-ups from the map:

Exploratory Drilling Clearance

Remember the time when the UPA Government put the Minister for Oil and Natural Gas, Veerappa Moily, in charge of the Environment Ministry? Fortunately for the Indian electorate, which still had a patriotic conscience intact in those years, this brazen move came just a year before the General Elections of 2014, just in time to kick the UPA out of power. But another brazen move, this time by a puppet MoEFCC under the NDA, exempting oil and gas firms from seeking environmental clearance for any onshore or offshore exploratory drilling, comes at a juncture where the ruling party's second term has barely begun.

PS- The fish in the cartoon is a Knifetooth Sawfish, endangered because of human interferences along coasts, and perfectly capable of drilling a bureaucrat's head when the electorate fails to do so.

The Spoon billed Sandpiper

This World Migratory Bird Day, meet one of the world's most endangered waders, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper. The critically endangered species breeds in Far-eastern Russia and migrates all the way to Southern Asia in the winters!

From my column with Roundglass Sustain.

Coastal Fauna- Posters for UNDP

A series of posters I designed for school kids, for the World Wildlife Day event hosted by the UNDP, were displayed at the event. Thanks to the UNDP India team for commissioning the designs.

Mumbai Coastal Road

Presenting Mumbai's coastal road, yet another environmental disaster in the making. Other than marine life, artisanal fishing communities such as the Kolis are the project's worst victims.

Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-day.

Mangalajodi- a Falcon's Eye View

(click on the image for a larger view)

Mangalajodi, a village in Tangi in the state of Odisha (India), is the northern edge of Chilka Lake, one of the largest wintering grounds for migratory birds in the Indian subcontinent, hosting more than a million birds from 230 species annually!  Mangalajodi is also a unique conservation success story, where the efforts of a few committed locals helped transform a village that depended on bird poaching for subsistence, into protectors of those very birds. Today, Mangalajodi hosts a large number of birdwatchers, photographers and tourists every winter, earning the place a prominent spot on India's ecotourism map.

I was recently commissioned by 'Song of the Wild' to visit Mangalajodi and create an illustration of the place. The illustration will be a part of an art exhibition 'The Magic of Mangalajodi', being held in Bhuwaneshwar's Lalit Kala Akademi from the 7th to the 13th of December. Thanks to Mr. Avinash Khemka, a wildlife photographer and the brain behind the display, for hosting me at Mangalajodi, and to my friends Panchami Manoo Ukil and Bikram Grewal for making me a part of the show. Thanks also to my friend and scientist Tiasa Adhya, who is studying the Fishing Cat in the wetland, for helping me generously with information about the area, and to Mr. Madhu Behera, a poacher-turned-protector and tour guide, for showing me around.

Recommended reading on Mangalajodi: Panchami Manoo Ukil's article for Sanctuary Asia here. 

Typhoon Mangkhut and Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been grappling with housing for its skyrocketing population, and the government's proposed solution is reclaiming land from the sea. Environmental organizations have warned against the policy's disastrous environmental consequences. Typhoon Mangkhut cut straight across the city recently, thankfully not claiming any human life. This could well serve as a timely reminder to the government to not meddle with the natural forces along its coastline, whose mangroves, the first line of defence against natural disasters, are under direct threat from development.

Macha the Fishing Cat - Mascot for Coringa WLS

Meet Macha the Fishing Cat, the official mascot for Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh! ('Macha', Tamil,  means friend or 'bro' in colloquial parlance across Southern India). Coringa is one of India's largest contiguous stretch of mangrove forests and hosts the largest population of Fishing Cats in the country. DFO Mr. Anant Shankar commissioned a mascot design and a series of four posters in which Macha introduces his 'machas', YOU, to Coringa and mangroves. Read on- 

A big thanks to Mr. Shankar and the AP Forest Department for initiating this fun project! The posters are up at the interpretation centre in Coringa.

Macha the Fishing Cat now proudly endorses Coringa to visitors as a life-size sculpture! Thanks to the team of artists who worked on converting my character design into this magnificent sculpture.