Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Indian English Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park is a protected area of India consisting of 21 small islands (islets) and adjacent coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar in the Indian Ocean. It lies 1 to 10 km away from the east coast of Tamil Nadu, India for 160 km between Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) and Dhanushkodi. It is the core area of the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve which includes a 10 km buffer zone around the park, including the populated coastal area.[1] The park has a high diversity of plants and animals in its marine, intertidal and near shore habitats. Public access inside the park is limited to glass-bottom boat rides.[2] It was established as a National Park in 1986.[3]

Geography

The Template:Convert park is part of the 140 km long and 25 km wide Mannar barrier reef. It lies between 8° 47' to 9° 15' N latitude and 78° 12' to 79° 14' E longitude. The 21 islands vary from Template:Convert to 130 ha. (321.2 acres). The total area of the islands is Template:Convert.[4] Template:Cbignore

The islands (listed southwest to northeast)

Tuticorin group: (4 islands)
Vaan (Vhan), 16.0 ha [5] Template:Coord
Koswari, 19.50 ha Template:Coord
Vilanguchalli, 0.95 ha Template:Coord, now 1 m below mean low tide level as a result of excessive coral mining.
Kariyachalli, 16.46 ha Template:Coord

Vembar group: (3 islands)
Uppu Thanni, 22.94 ha, elevation 4 m Template:Coord
Puluvini Challi, 6.12 ha, elevation 5.5 m Template:Coord
Nalla Thanni, 101.00 ha, elevation 11.9 m (recently populated) Template:Coord

Kilakarai group: (7 islands)
Anaipar, 11.00 ha, elevation 2.1 m Template:Coord
Vali Munai, 6.72 ha, elevation 1.2 m Template:Coord
Poovarasan Patti, 0.50 ha, elevation 1.2 m Template:Coord
Appa, 28.63 ha, elevation 6.4 m Template:Coord
Talairi, 75.15 ha, elevation 2.7 m Template:Coord
Valai 10.10 ha, elevation 3.0 m Template:Coord
Mulli, 10.20 ha, elevation 1.2 m Template:Coord

File:AMS-Gulf of Mannar (SW).jpg
Topographic Map (SW)

Mandapam group:(7 islands)
Musal, 124.00 ha, elevation 0.9 m Template:Coord (recently populated)
Manoli, 25.90 ha Template:Coord
Manoli-Putti 2.34 ha Template:Coord
Poomarichan 16.58 ha Template:Coord
Pullivasal, 29.95 ha Template:Coord
Kurusadai, 65.80 ha Template:Coord was recently populated.[6] Its surrounding shallow waters harbour three species of seagrass that are found nowhere else in India. Representatives of every animal phylum known (except amphibians) are found on this island.[7]
Shingle, 12.69 ha, elevation .6m Template:Coord

Tidal amplitude in the area is about .5m.[5]

There were two more islands named Pandayan and Punnaiyadi at Template:Coord that were destroyed for construction of the new Tuticorn Port facilities.

Flora

File:Avicennia germinans.jpg
Mangroves
File:Dugong Marsa Alam.jpg
Dugong with tropical fish

The park includes marine components such as coral reefs, seaweed communities, sea grasses, and mangroves.[8]

Mangroves dominate the intertidal zones of the park islands. They consist of species of the genera Rhizophora, Avicennia, Bruguiera, Ceriops and Lumnitzera.[9] The introduced tree genus Prosopis is dominant on land in all the islands. The flowering herb Pemphis acidula (family Lythraceae) is the only endemic plant species.[10] 12 species of sea grass and 147 species of seaweeds were recorded. This vegetation provides important feeding grounds for vulnerable marine mammals such as the dugong,[6] endangered green turtles and olive ridley turtles.[11]

Fauna

Vertebrates

The dugong, a vulnerable marine mammal, is the flagship mammal of the park. It is an important habitat for the cetaceans: Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, finless porpoise, spinner dolphin,[12] common dolphin,[13] Risso's dolphin, melon-headed whale, and dwarf sperm whale.[14] Larger whales include sperm whale,[15] minke whale, Bryde's whale,[16] sei whale,[17] and critically endangered species including humpback whale, fin whale,[18] and blue whale.[19]

About 510 (23%) of the 2,200 fin fish species in Indian waters are found in the Gulf, making it the most highly diverse fish habitat in India. Coral associated ornamental fishes of the family Chaetodontidae (butterfly fish), parrotfish, Amphiprion spp. (clown fish), Holocentrus spp. (squirrel fish), Scarus spp. (parrot fish), Lutjanus spp. (snappers) and Abudefduf saxatilis (sergeant major) are abundant.[20]

A unique endemic species of Balanoglossus – Ptychodera fluva, a living fossil that links invertebrates and vertebrates, has been recorded only at Kurusadai.[7]

Invertebrates

Four species each of shrimp and lobster, 106 species of crab, 17 species of sea cucumber, and 466 species of mollusc including 271 gastropods, 174 bivalves, 5 polyplacophorans, 16 cephalopods and 5 scaphopods,[21] 108 species of sponge, and 100 species of echinoderm occur in the Gulf.[22]

The coral fauna includes 106 species from 30 genus of hermatypes and 11 species from 10 genus of ahermatypes, including 13 new species, giving a total of 117 species from 14 families and 40 genus. The reefs in this area are narrow fringing reefs located 150 to 300 m. from the shore of the islands and patch reefs rising up from depths of 2 to 9 m. and extending up to 2 km. long and 50 m. wide. Large areas of these reefs are in generally poor condition due to destructive human activities of the 150,000 persons living along the coast. Nutrient and other pollution loads are high due to agriculture, deforestation, industry, urbanization and septic pollution. It appears that the coral reefs of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park seem to be healthy and in good condition, despite high rates of sedimentation and other threats.[23] However, live coral cover is only about 35%. Various algae cover much of the dead coral.[24]

Stony coral species of families Poritidae and Faviidae constitute the dominant reef builders here. Coral reefs near some of the islands have been heavily damaged by exploitation as raw materials for industrial ventures such as cement industries, brick manufacture, masonry work and lime kilns. Though legal quarrying of the reefs is now stopped, up to 250 m3/day of reef were destroyed for many years.[9]

Habitation

File:Fishing boats - GOMMNP.jpg
Boats at Mandapam that fish in GOMMNP

The islands are uninhabited except for Krusadai, Musal and Nallathanni islands where antipoaching sheds are operating.[25] Along the coast near the park there are about 125 villages which support about 100,000 people who are mainly Marakeyars, a local community principally engaged in fishing.[4][9]

Habitat degradation

Experts say that Vaan Island, one of the four islands of the Tuticorn group, has split in two and if immediate efforts are not taken then the island would soon vanish under the sea. Vaan Island, which is the southernmost of the 21 islands in the Gulf of Mannar, was initially spread across 16 hectares, but had shrunk alarmingly by around 10.3 hectares to its current 5.7 hectares in less than three decades. According to J K Patterson Edward, director of Suganthi Devadasan Marine Research Institute (SDMRI), Tuticorin,"Rampant coral mining by people of the fishing villages along the coast is the main cause of the devastation to the island. Coral mining was banned in 2005, but the damage had already been done." Two of the 21 islands have already submerged around a decade ago.[26]

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

Template:National Parks of India Template:Protected areas of Tamil Nadu Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Ramsar sites in India

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  6. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. http://www.tuticorincity.info/plan-your-tour/Gulf-of-Mannar-Marine-National-Park.html Template:Webarchive. Tuticorin City. retrieved 13-05-2014
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Active Asia Travel. http://www.hotelsatmaldives.com/Whales.html Template:Webarchive retrieved 13-05-2014
  15. ↑ Accounts of Whale Watching in Sri Lanka. http://www.jetwingeco.com/content/accounts-whale-watching-sri-lanka. Jetwing Eco Holidays. retrieved on 13-05-2014
  16. ↑ Balaenoptera edeni. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".. Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India. retrieved 13-05-2014
  17. ↑ Kasim H.M., Balasubramanian S.T., 1989. On the stranding of Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis along Gulf of Mannar coast. Marine Fisheries Information Service, Technical and Extension Series, 95. pp. 12-14. Eprints@CMFRI. http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/3068/. retrieved on 13-05-2014
  18. ↑ Miller M., Scott A., Gulf of Mannar. http://www.psu.edu/dept/nkbiology/India/Gulf_of_Mannar.pdf. Biosphere Reserve Project. retrieved on 13-05-2014
  19. ↑ Marichamy R., Rajapandian M.E., Srinivasan A., 1984. The stranding of rorqual whale Balaenoptera musculus (Linnaeus) in the Gulf of Mannar. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India. 26. 168-170. Marine Mammal Conservation Network of India. Submit a Record. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".retrieved 13-05-2014
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Patterson J.K.
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Edward J. K Patterson, Mathews Edward G., Patterson Jamilla, Wilhelmsson Dan, Tamelander Jerjer, Linden Olaf (April 2007) Coral Reefs of The Gulf of Mannar, Southeastern India-Distribution, Diversity and Status, special Research Publication # 12, Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, J.K. Patterson Edward, Director, 44 Beach Road, Tuticorn, Tamil Nadu, 628001 India [www.sdmri.org]
  24. ↑ Venkataswaran Dr. V (January 2000) Status Survey of Gulf of Mannar Coral Reefs, Marine Biological Station, Zoological Survey of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, 100 San Thome High Road, Chennai, India, 600028
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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