Marine life invades sweet water

KOLKATA: If you ever peek into the trawlers that ply the shallow waters of the Sunderbans, don’t be surprised to see Bombay Duck, squids and shell-less molluscs called nudibranchs stashed onboard, instead of the usual bhetki and other common freshwater fish.

These are typically marine creatures and have no reason to be in the Sunderban waters. But, thanks to climate change and rising sea levels, the fragile eco-system in this mangrove region is in grave danger of falling apart.

According to a water quality monitoring study of the Sunderbans being conducted by Calcutta University’s department of marine sciences in conjunction with the Kolkata Port Trust, the salinity level has risen from 17 parts per thousand (PPT) in 1980 to 22 PPT in the eastern region of the Sunderbans, Abhijit Mitra of department of marine sciences at Calcutta University told DNA. Thus, marine creatures flow in with the tide and make themselves at home in their new habitat as freshwater fish find it difficult to survive.

Mitra also sounds the alarm bell for disappearing Sundari trees, from which the region takes its name. “About 80% of Sundari trees have vanished,”  he says.
m_madhumita@dnaindia.net