An underwater habitat at a depth of 15 metres off Puthiyathura near Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Some of the most mysterious and thrilling secrets of the sea off the southern Kerala coast will be unveiled in Community Marine Biodiversity Online Register set to be released in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on the World Oceans Day on June 8.Created by Friends of Marine Life (FML), a Thiruvananthapuram-based organisation working in the area of marine biodiversity, the online register documents marine ecosystems and the rich coastal biodiversity off Thiruvananthapuram district. Once launched, the register can be accessed by anyone free of charge. It is also interactive as the public and researchers can contribute to expanding it, said researcher and FML coordinator Robert Panipilla.Ocean literacy“The primary aim is building ‘ocean literacy’ - to show the ocean from the perspective of the traditional knowledge of the fishers,” he said. “The general public tend to view the ocean from the outside - as nothing more than a large body of water. For the fishers, on the other hand, the ocean and the underwater ecosystems are as familiar to them as any cityscape would be to a resident,” he said.The FML initiative is supported by a clutch of agencies including Kerala University’s Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, South Indian Federation of Fishermen’s Societies, Aazhi Archives and Scuba Cochin.The register provides information on a wealth of marine species, including many that have yet to be scientifically identified. It also features verified scientific information from institutions such as the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries and the National Institute of Ocean technology, according to Mr. Panipilla. For each species, both the vernacular name and the common name are provided.
