When Sarang Naik first started exploring Mumbai's urban wildlife as an amateur photographer in 2017, he was surprised by the sheer diversity of the creatures he came across: octopuses, eels, crabs, and entire colonies of corals and micro-organisms known as 'zoanthids'. Largely unknown and often overlooked, these magnificent creatures inhabit the tide pools along the urban coast of Mumbai.

These tide pools, or intertidal ecosystems, are one of the city's many secrets. As the tide retreats, it leaves behind these shallow pools of seawater that remain isolated from the sea by the shore's rocky cracks and crevices. Some of these pools are as small as a cup, while others are large enough for a dip, but almost all are teeming with life. Tide pools function as nature's aquariums and provide shelter to small marine animals such as sea stars, anemones, barnacles, hermit crabs, mussels, and sea snails. The Nobel laureate American novelist John Steinbeck described tide pools as “ferocious with life”, and compared their richness to tropical rainforests.

"Intertidal ecosystems are quite unique as they get exposed to air twice a day during low tides," Naik explains. "Many species have evolved to survive in these harsh, dynamic conditions. Several marine organisms use the intertidal zone for breeding and raising their young as they provide sanctuary from large predators. These ecosystems (also) play a vital role in preventing coastal erosion and reducing the impact of hurricanes and tsunamis. With climate change induced sea level rise threatening to flood large portions of Mumbai in the coming decades, we need to ensure that our first line of defence, the intertidal zone, remains intact and healthy."

"We all known how polluted Mumbai's beaches are," Naik says. "Untreated sewage and washed up garbage are chronic problems. In spite of so much pollution, the city's shores have a mind-boggling diversity of wildlife. We regularly see octopuses, moray eels, and anemones in the tide pools. The Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM) team has documented more than 50 species of colourful sea slugs from the city's shores. All of these ‘exotic’ creatures supposedly found only in crystal clear waters in faraway places are still surviving here in Mumbai. Imagine how much more they will thrive if only we cleaned up our mess."

But with rapid urbanisation and degradation of the city's coastline, as well as climate change, these vulnerable ecosystems are increasingly under threat.

"I believe the first step is to acknowledge them as wildlife habitats and rigorously document their biodiversity," Naik says. "Planning agencies tend to see these places as lifeless zones fit for exploitation. We need to change that perspective by showing them hard data. The Marine Life of Mumbai collective has been collecting this data for the past 8 years on an app called iNaturalist. Anyone can contribute to this data by uploading their observations."

"The next step is to sensitize the public about these places and encourage them to become citizen scientists. MLOM conducts guided shore walks in Mumbai. Now we also have Marine Life of Goa, Marine Life of Andhra Pradesh and Marine Life of Andamans! So wherever you are, you can join these groups or plan your own tidepooling trips," Naik says. "Together, we can form a nationwide community that can become the voice of these underappreciated habitats."

Sarang Naik is a nature and wildlife photographer based in Mumbai, India. He specialises in creative nature photography and urban wildlife photography. He has been photographing the wildlife in and around Mumbai — especially the intertidal biodiversity on the city's shores — for the past several years. Sarang is part of the Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM) collective.

Learn more about Marine Life of Mumbai here.

Follow Sarang Naik here.

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