Amazonian Droughts and Amazonian Dolphins

In more climate-change-induced panic this week, a heatwave records as well as hearts were shattered in Brazil’s Lake Tefe, with hundreds of Botos (Amazonian River Dolphins) reported dead. Carcasses also included those of the Tucuxi (Grey Dolphin) and thousands of fish. The deaths are estimated to have reduced the already endangered Boto population by 10% (report here).

Cartoon from my Gocomics page, also available royalty-free on my Cartoonstock gallery.

Dolphin Babytalk

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found that higher pitched whistles that dolphin mums use for their young could be 'baby talk'! Cartoon from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Mother Orca Woes

Being a mom is no easy feat, especially when you're an Orca mom raising a son! Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. Happy Mothers' Day!

More on the quoted study here.

Salinity and the Dolphins of Sunderbans

Climate change, salinity and its impacts on two dolphin species in the Sunderbans. Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

False Bay : Illustration for Save Our Seas

(click on the image for a larger view)

Wedged between the Cape Peninsula and the Hottentot Hollands Mountain of Western Cape, South Africa, the False Bay is a magical ecosystem, teeming with some spectacular and endemic marine life! From African Penguins and Fur Seals to Right Whales and Great White Sharks, this star studded bay is a jewel of the Great African Kelp Forest.

Illustration for Save Our Seas Foundation's gorgeous Shark Education Centre at Kalk Bay, Cape Town. The illustration can be downloaded on their website here. Thanks to Jade Schulz and the team at SOSF for the opportunity!

Ganga Cruises and the Gangetic Dolphin

Dredging and noise pollution associated with the newly launched luxury cruises in the Ganga are expected to make the already critical situation for Gangetic Dolphins a lot worse. Endangered and threatened by pollution and habitat loss, the Gangetic Dolphin is India's National Aquatic Animal.

Cartoon from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Cartoons on Dolphin Depredation

The issue of depredation, i.e. dolphins damaging fishing nets to take fish, has been a growing concern both for cetaceans and fishers in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. I collaborated with ACCOBAMS (Agreement on Conservation of Cetaceans of Black and Mediterranean Seas) to bring out a set of 9 cartoons that break down the issue of dolphin depredation, and explain how better monitoring and implementation of scientific solutions can help control the problem. The cartoons have been translated to French, Italian, Spanish, Maltese and Arabic, and are being used in publications and multimedia, targeted at ACCOBAMS' partners and funding organizations. Another publication I am working on for ACCOBAMS, a comic + colouring book on the relationship between fishers and dolphins of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, will be out next month.

A big thanks to Julie Belmont from ACCOBAMS for the opportunity!

Marine Noise and Dolphins

Marine noise is a growing threat worldwide, to the ecology of dolphins and other cetaceans that rely on sonar for communication, navigation and feeding. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park

(Click on the images for a larger preview)

Revillagigedo, an archipelago of volcanic islands in Mexico, is a haven for island endemic wildlife and marine fauna, and North America's largest no-take marine protected area! Illustration for Save our Seas Foundation, which can be downloaded as a PDF from their website.

Thanks to SOSF for their continued association! Here are some close-up snippets from the illustration:

Mediterranean Bycatch Comics for Birdlife International

Comics on bycatch done for Birdlife International's Mediterranean Bycatch Programme, that aims to equip fish workers in the Mediterranean to significantly reduce bycatch and help conserve marine animals threatened by the fishing industry. Translated versions of the cartoons are being used in the coasts of Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey. Thanks to Daniel Mitchell of Birdlife International for making me a part of such a crucial initative!

The cartoons have been published as a part of an educational flipbook. Read more on their website here. 

Sea Sparkles and Arabian Sea

Not all that glitters is a romantic bioluminescence! On sea sparkles and their impact on fisheries in the Arabian Sea, from my column with Sunday Mid-day. Read more about the issue on Mongabay India's article here.  

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. 

Project Dolphin and National Waterways

Project Dolphin was launched by the Prime Minister this year on Independence Day (15th August) with the aim of conserving our national aquatic animal, the endangered Gangetic Dolphin. But another government endeavour, the National Waterways Project, threatens the species, which will involve dredging and development of the rivers that are the dolphin's last remaining strongholds. Is Project Dolphin actually designed to bear fruit or simply as a greenwashing measure for the ecologically destructive National Waterways Project? Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Spinner Dolphin Coaching

A Spinner Dolphin teaches spin bowling in my column with Roundglass Sustain. 

Oil Spill at Baghjan Assam

Chances are that you have not heard or read about a major ecological and public health crisis brewing in Eastern Assam on any mainstream media channel. A crude oil pipe blowout caused a major oil spill at Baghjan, and the lives of marsh and aquatic wildlife, as well as villagers are now at grave risk, courtesy of Oil India Limited, the Indian government's oil extraction company.

How is this related to the ongoing national environmental crisis? By now you may be vaguely familiar with the many disastrous projects being planned in North-east India (such as a dam in the seismically sensitive Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, and a coal mine in Assam's Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve). You may also be familiar with the MoEFCC's proposed revisions to the Environment Impact Assessment protocol, which seeks to do away with EIA for major projects. OIL has a record of violating Eco-sensitive zone boundaries and constructing pipelines even before due environmental clearances are obtained. To put it simply, the EIA revisions could legalize all of this. Read more about the draft EIA and what you can do to oppose it here.

Killer Whale

The Killer Whale wasn't born a Killer Whale. Society made it one. 

I personally prefer the name Orca. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Dolphins of the World

Meet the 44 dolphin species of the world in this brand new poster, from the largest, the Orca (Killer Whale) to the smallest, the Hector's Dolphin. Some of the most threatened dolphins are the ones found in freshwater ecosystems and estuaries, while many other species continue to decline. 

Dolphin prints are available as a wide range of prints, apparel and merchandise on my webstore here. 

(Note that the poster includes only species recognized by the IUCN. Sub-species like the Bolivian and Indus River Dolphins do not feature in this poster Printing and shipping within India are suspended at the moment and will resume after the COVID lockdown is lifted).

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!

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:

Vessel Noise and the Gangetic Dolphin

Noise from vessels in the Ganga is emerging to be an added threat to our National Aquatic Animal, the endangered Gangetic Dolphin. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Read Aathira Perinchery's article on the issue here.