Marine Life of Mumbai is an open, community-driven project to explore and understand the coastal biodiversity of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (India).
The Project
Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM) aims to present to you the fascinating array of marine life right here on the big city’s shores. To take you on a journey of rediscovery of these forgotten natural treasures and to collectively think about what we stand to lose if these seaside spaces, in many ways the lifeline of the city’s existence through the ages, continue to be ignored in the face of the city’s bigger ideas.
Marine Life of Mumbai was founded on February 8, 2017 by Abhishek Jamalabad, Pradip Patade and Siddharth Chakravarty.
Project Scope
Online Science Communication
We began by creating content – on our website and social media accounts – that makes scientific information palatable to a non-scientific audience. Our posts engage in a fun, inclusive manner with the citizens of Mumbai about their seashore counterparts.
Shorewalks
MLOM’s other main activity, right from day one, has been to conduct guided exploratory walks focussing on the biodiversity and habitat of the city’s shores. Through these walks, we help people from all backgrounds to not just discover wildlife but to reconnect with the sea in the urban landscape we all call home.
Meetups
In our second year, we began conducting informal ‘Marine Meetups’, to present work being done by marine specialists to public audiences. We also started to visit schools & colleges across the city to introduce them to what lies right in their backyards.
Data Collection
MLOM’s citizen-sourced & open-access biodiversity data, which showcases the richness of intertidal marine species in Mumbai, sits on iNaturalist.org, a global platform that encourages citizen science, knowledge sharing & scientific accuracy.
Project Coordinators
Shaunak Modi
Pradip Patade
Gaurav Patil