Sometime in the last week of March this year, I was winding up work at one of our study sites in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, when there was a sudden burst of yellow and black and I was left blinking, smack in the middle of this huge shoal of convict surgeonfish. Naturally, I just had to record […]
Caught on camera
One evening, after a long day of trekking in the mountains in Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, our team retired to the basecamp. Our tents were the only ones set up in the valley at the time. However, that particular day was different—we had company. Two herders, along with their livestock, horses and guard dogs, had pitched […]
Crumbling atolls
New 18-year study shows that despite increasing resistance, coral reefs in the Lakshadweep are not recovering well from climate change disturbances The coral reefs of the Lakshadweep are not doing well. They haven’t been well for a while now. Just how badly they are faring is something we are only just waking up to. […]
Q&A with Mayuresh Gangal: Fish in Troubled Waters
The decline of fish stock the world over is gravely affecting the balance of things in our seas. In India too, with the ever-rising, unregulated fishing, things aren’t looking too good. Mayuresh is a PhD candidate with our Oceans and Coasts Programme and works on understanding impacts of overfishing on fish populations in India’s […]
‘நாடி’ அதை நாடி…
பறவை நோக்குபவர்களைப் பல வகையாகப் பிரிக்கலாம். சிலர் பார்த்து ரசிப்பதோடு நிறுத்திவிடுவார்கள். சிலர் அவற்றைப் பட்டியலிட்டு அவற்றின் பண்புகள், வாழிடத்தின் நிலை போன்றவற்றை விவரமாகக் குறிபெடுத்துக் கொள்வார்கள். சிலர் அவற்றைப் படமெடுப்பார்கள். இன்னும் சிலர் ட்விச்சர்ஸாக இருப்பார்கள். அதாவது, இதுவரை அவர்கள் வாழ்நாளில் எத்தனை வகையான பறவைகளைப் பார்த்திருக்கிறோம் என்பதைக் குறித்து வைத்துக்கொண்டு, அந்த எண்ணிக்கையை உயர்த்துவதற்காகவே, தாம் இதுவரை பார்க்காத பறவைகளைக் குறிவைத்து அரிய பறவைகளைப் பார்க்க நெடுந்தூரம் செல்வார்கள். சற்றே அதீத ஆர்வமுள்ள இது […]
Podcast: Plant Invaders
In these two episodes, Dr Geetha Ramaswami talks about plants that have travelled far, far away from their native lands and have invaded and colonised new areas. She tells us about why and how this happens and what the ecological effects of such invasions by plants are. Tune in! In part II, she tells us […]
Ants killing an antlion
Ants are everywhere, and I mean literally everywhere, and yet we hardly pay any attention to them unless they invade our cookie jars. For me observing ants is like watching one of those psychological thrillers where they show a lot of creativity in torturing other people, a bit bizarre and violent, mostly disturbing. Ants are also very […]
Staff Picks: What we’re reading
Birding for people who don’t like lists by Matthew L. Miller If you are a lazy and disorganised birder like me, then you should read this article—and if you are not, then you should definitely read this! Birders often gets bogged down with making and organising their lists, competing with other birders and it really […]
Tenzin and the wolf pups
By Charudutt Mishra How has Spiti influenced me? This is a very hard question to answer. It is akin to trying to describe my mother’s influence on me. Or that of my son. When something is a part of you, it is hard to disentangle the skeins of influence that separate it from you. And, […]
Ten Neighbourhood Trees
Have you picked up a jamun or two, or seen an amaltas tree that’s still in bloom recently? Here are ten of the many trees that silently brighten up our days—even when they aren’t parading their flowers. If you’d like to monitor a tree that you love near your home, workspace, or just […]