The Great African Seaforest

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In one of my lengthiest and most detailed illustration projects yet, I got the honour of working closely with the fabulous team at The Seachange Project (creators of the Oscar winning documentary 'My Octopus Teacher')- to create a vision of hope for the Great African Seaforest, a vast expanse of kelp forest in the Atlantic Ocean along the western coast of South Africa. From the glamorous Cape Fur Seal, Cape Clawless Otter and the African Penguin to little known klipfish and limpets, the Great African Seaforest is home to a myriad marine organisms that make the kelp a living, breathing, and a dancing ecosystem! Many of these creatures are threatened by overfishing and anthropogenic disturbances today, and conservationists at the Seachange Project are working towards establishing safe, undisturbed habitats for these species to bounce back.

The illustration is available as a freely downloadable resource on the organization's website here. A massive thanks to the Seachange team (Swati Thiyagarajan, Craig Foster, Carina Frankal, Dani Ehrlich, Jannes Landschoff) for trusting me with the illustration, for having me at Cape Town for a field visit, and for their patience through the project!

State of World Migratory Species

A hilsa, one of our most popular migratory fish imperiled by dams and overfishing, summarises the findings of the first 'State of the World's Migratory Species' report, published recently by the CMS (UN). 

Cartoon for The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

The Male Anglerfish's Selfless Love

Can you ever love your partner as selflessly as the male Anglerfish loves Roshni?

Comic for Roundglass Sustain.

Sea Skate

Meet the sea skate, a cartilaginous fish closely related to the better known stingrays! Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

The cartoon also ran as a caption contest last month on Roundglass's social media platforms. Check out the winning entries here.

New Species of 2023

Newly discovered species from 2023 congratulate India's biologists for all the discoveries and rediscoveries made this year! Let's hope that our biologists will BRB with new ground-breaking science in 2024! Comic for Roundglass Sustain.

Black Spotted Croaker the State Fish of Gujarat

Gujarat's newly declared State Fish, the Black-spotted Croaker or 'Ghol' is 'near-threatened' on the IUCN Red List because of overfishing and export of swim bladders for Chinese medicine. Hopefully, the new title will make the conservation of the Ghol a priority. Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

White's Seahorses and the Sydney Seahorse Project

White's Seahorses, endemic to southwest Pacific, and now receiving some much-needed royal treatment at 'seahorse hotels', thanks to the Sydney Seahorse Project! 

Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Art for the Aquarium Museum of Leige

Over the last year I have been illustrating a very funky set of aquatic and marine organisms for the Aquarium Museum, University of Leige, Belgium. The artwork has been used for various communication collateral and merchandise by the museum, in the most creative ways:

A big thanks to Dr. Michael Scholl and team for their continued association, and for giving my art such prime display space!

Some of these illustrations are available online as merchandise via the Aquarium Museum website here.

Silver Pomfret the State Fish of Maharashtra

My home state Maharashtra has a new official state fish, everyone's favourite Silver Pomfret! But the 'pom still frets', as the high demand for the fish has led the mechanized fishing industry to ravage its populations, coupled with sea pollution. Marine conservationists suggest that diversifying consumption along with better implementation of periodic fishing bans and research will help save the pomfret. 

Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Indonesia and Tuna

Last month, the Indonesian Fisheries Ministry pledged to cut tuna harvests by 10% and is pushing for sustainable certification. More recently, Indonesia has also started developing aquaculture to reduce the pressures on its tuna fisheries. Is the world's largest tuna catcher finally playing the right 'tuna'? More importantly, knowing the environmental downsides that aquaculture comes with, will Indonesia be able to pull this off sustainably?

Cartoon for DW Environment.

Norway and Deep Sea Mining

Norway has moved to open up its waters for deep sea mining of geothermal metals, and earned widespread condemnation from environment groups in the process. Cartoon for DW Global Ideas. 

Tiger Sharks help Marine Biology

Bahamas’ Tiger Sharks, apart from being apex predators of the ecosystem, and seagrass and coral reef guardians, have now earned yet another specialty: helping marine biologists map seagrass beds! The seagrass ecosystem of the Bahamas Banks is the largest such ecosystem in the world. As carbon sequestration of seagrass beds happens to be one of the focuses of this research, this also makes Tiger Sharks climate warriors with a diploma to prove it!

What's at Stake at COP15

Green Humour debuted on DW News, Europe's leading news channel this week, with a comic on why the Biodiversity COP should matter to me and you. Read the piece on DW here. 

What Elasmobranchs think about the new CITES Regulations

Nearly 100 species of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) were awarded protection in the form of an agreement on regulations on finning and trade between signatories to the CITES, at the conference held recently in Panama City this year. Here's what the elasmobranchs have to say about it!

Comic from my column with Roundglass Sustain. Read more about the CITES regulations here. 

Greenland Shark Fishing Ban

A ban on the fishing and bycatch of Greenland Sharks by the NAFO raises hope for the slow-breeding species, the longest living vertebrate on earth! Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Some Sharks from Around the World

Some sharks from around the world: posters and merchandise shipped worldwide from my Redbubble webstore.

For orders within India, visit my Happywagon webstore. 

Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park

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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:

Being a Bluestriped Fangblenny

Meet the Bluestriped Fangblenny, a fish that mimics Cleaner Wrasse and bites off its host's flesh! Comic from my column with Roundglass Sustain. 

Mermaid's Purses

I've just returned from a field visit to Cape Town, where I was shown my first 'Mermaid's Purse' (among many other fascinating marine things, by Craig Foster, the human protagonist of the Oscar winning documentary My Octopus Teacher! Here's a comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine, about this fascinating phenomenon of nature, an egg capsule that viviparous sharks, rays and skates produce to ensure a safe future for their offsprings! 

I'm also sharing a picture of the mermaid's purse I stumbled upon, which I was told belonged to a Dark Shyshark!

Pregnancy Tips from the Frilled Shark

Pregnancy tips from the Frilled Shark, which has the longest gestation period among vertebrates! Comic from my column with The Hindu Weekend.