Marine birds

Mumbai has an excellent coast-line with a combination of sandy beaches and mud-flats – the type of habitat preferred by marine birds during their annual sojourn to warmer climates. Those of us who have witnessed this annual migration of thousands of migratory birds from the far shores can really consider themselves privileged.

One would have noticed that large populations of birds are found on mud-flats and not on sandy sea-shores and there are reasons why this occurs.

It is well known that sandy shores occur only on open sea-facing shores, where the force of waves is resisted by gently sloping land surfaces. Mud-flats are formed in the relatively less turbulent waters of estuaries and creeks. This allows the plants that grow there (mangroves) to absorb the forces of waves and permit marine creatures to live in them. Also, burrows (made by crabs, mollusks and other echinoderms) have far better stability in the mud-flats than in sand. Additionally, when you consider that seawater over mud-flats is warmer, much shallower, and with lower turbulence than sandy shores, the bird population is naturally higher.  

During our rides along the Thane-Vashi creek, we found all types of waste dumped into the sea; this included large thermocole decorative pieces, plastic bags of all sorts, plastic fiber bags, food and the ever present pooja items wrapped in plastic. Most of the waste can and should be disposed at designated municipal waste bins earmarked for this specific purpose. 

It is upto us to save Mumbai’s magnificent coast-line. Lets do our best.