Mumbai’s coastal waters are a commons shared not only by its myriad human communities but also by two species of cetaceans, the Indian ocean humpback dolphin (IUCN Endangered) and the Indo-pacific finless porpoise (IUCN Vulnerable). As unacknowledged as they have been so far, their presence in these waters is undeniable. These species live in a narrow belt of coastal waters (upto 7.5km) that see tremendous human pressures from active fisheries, infrastructure development, to the city’s sewage that is emptied in their habitat daily.

This study, part of the Cetaceans program of CCF, aims to understand how the urban center of Mumbai is shaping communities of coastal cetaceans. Through this study we map the distributions of these species and document how they use the nearshore waters over seasons. We use a social-ecological lens to not only see how cetaceans interact with human activities like fisheries but also how these species are perceived by the coastal communities in the area.

Understanding the quality of their current habitat is integral to developing measures towards long-term species conservation. To that end we undertake fine-scale monitoring to identify key environmental drivers of these populations and highlight anthropogenic stressors that the populations are particularly vulnerable to.

We use a multi-pronged approach to identify threats to these species, build frameworks for their mitigation and develop effective communication strategies for their implementation.

We employ an approach that is adaptive and allows inclusion of disciplines of habitat ecology, conservation biology and social sciences for developing an understanding of the species through the habitat they live in and the communities they share their spaces with.