Tuesday, October 2, 2012
SCUBA Diving, exploring life under sea...
Due to fear of Tsunami,
the beach as expected was empty; no tourists whatsoever & the few that
visited were seen around the temple. Even the Scuba Diving shop was with no
customers and it is quite obvious that no one would like to risk their lives in
such a situation. Even few of my friends backed out last minute, however I had
my colleague Guru Prasad and we both were escorted by the resort staff. We were
quite determined & had made up our minds so as per our plan we went ahead
to take a dive. For both of us it was first time experience of Scuba dive.
There are several formalities that we had to complete like our id proof, photo
id and filling up some declaration forms. Once we had done our bit, the Scuba
diving shop has to seek permission from the Police Dept, and this time the cops
were reluctant to give permission. Our instructor Dhirendra Rawat called me and
updated that it will take some time before he convinces and gets the
permission, so he asked us to hang around for a while.
It was quite hot and humid, we decided to pay visit to the Murudeshwara temple which is located on the beach, and here we worship Lord Shiva. I took this opportunity to make few images of the temple. As we were getting out of the temple I got call from Dhitendra and the good news was that our permission to visit Netrani Islands and Scuba diving was granted. After waiting for an hour or so there was something to cheer, probably even GOD was with us to make this happen. Dhirendra arrived with our permission letters and we all boarded the motor boat to reach Netrani Island, the ride is ~ over an hour’s journey in the Arabian Sea. During the journey we were given complete briefing about do’s and don’ts, basics of Scuba diving and other precautions that one needs to take. After the briefing I wasn’t sure if I can really do it, breathing with oxygen apparatus under sea was something new and of course tricky, SCUBA acronym – Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
As we cruised towards
Netrani Islands my heart beat increased, I was really nervous. I was asked to
be ready with the scuba diving gear, quite a heavy oneJ. I
thought I can take a normal jump into the sea but as per the guidelines one has
to fall on his/her back into the sea. The first 15 minutes were tough and I was
practicing the technique of breathing with the Oxygen apparatus. After a while
we both were a bit comfortable and now we were ready to go. We had 2
instructors Dhirendra for me and Kishore for Guru. And now I was all set to
explore the marine life under the sea. My instructor Dhirendra was quite
cooperative and guided me right into the deep blue waters.
As I swam into the deep
waters, I couldn’t believe my eyes; I felt I was in a different world all
together. I was surrounded by beautiful and colorful small fishes, they aren’t
harmful watching them was a treat to my eyes. After a while my instructor asked
me if I was ok, since we can’t talk all signals are done by hand. I responded
him that I am ok he then guided me further down and believe me I hadn’t seen
live corals before. This was amazing stuff to see different kinds of corals.
Having been used to forest so much on bumpy jeep rides and sighting tigers,
this was some experience, to my luck I also sighted a large shark at a
distance. Later I was even excited to see few lobsters & large shrimps my
mouth was watering seeing themJ, quite obvious for a seafood lover
like me.
My instructor was taking
my pictures and also filming, he then handed over the camera to me, it was an
experience of my life to take few shots underwater. After about 20-30 minutes I
was out and really exhausted, but believe me if you haven’t experienced Scuba
Diving then you surely are missing something in life. I have uploaded a video
clip on face book, kindly click the link to watch it.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=187715977938240&set=vb.100000995173647&type=2&theater
Info on Netrani Islands-
Netrani is a
tiny island is located in the Arabian Sea. It is off the coast of Karnataka,
situated approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) from the temple town
of Murudeshwara. This Island has some of the best sites for Scuba Diving easily
accessible from Goa, Mumbai or Bangalore.
Netrani is a coral island and, therefore, is
very suitable for snorkeling and diving activities. Many varieties of Corals,
Butterfly fish, Trigger fish, Parrot fish and more can be seen here. In
addition Whales and Sharks are seen if you are really lucky. Normally
diving/snorkeling is done from a boat which is anchored close to the island and
usually visitors do not climb on to the island because of the sharp rocks and steep
cliffs on the island.
This island offers diving suitable for
professionals. The island adjacent to Netrani is used by the Indian navy for
target practice. One needs to seek permission from Police Dept to visit and do
Scuba Diving at Netrani Island. The best time to visit is between December and
January.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
My Encounter with a Jaguar - Part 1
I have traveled to
most of the forests in India namely the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Nagarahole
National Park, BR Hills, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Ranthambore National Park, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve and Jim
Corrbett. I was wondering what makes Pantanal in Brazil so special that most
people around the world travel to South America to visit Pantanal. Honestly
traveling to Pantanal was never my dream nor in my wish list, it was mere a coincidence I had to travel Brazil on business and this provided me the opportunity
to visit Pantanal. Most of us are unaware of this place & invariably Kenya & Tanzania in Africa is the prime focal point in most wildlife destinations.
This is one reason
why Pantanal is less known and is under severe threat. Pantanal is one of the
most immense, pristine and biologically rich environments on the planet. Often
referred to as the world’s largest wetland system, it extends through millions
of hectares of central-western Brazil, eastern Bolivia and eastern Paraguay.
With its extraordinarily concentrated and diverse flora and fauna, and a
landscape spanning a variety of ecological sub-regions, the Pantanal stands as
one of the world’s great natural wonders.
This area is an
unparalleled wildlife sanctuary of spectacular beauty, an ecological paradise
containing hundreds of species of birds, thousands of varieties of butterflies,
myriads of brightly colored flowers, and shoals of fish. Capuchin and Howler
monkeys, capybaras, toucans, anacondas, caimans and tapirs help create an aquatic
and sylvan theater of sights and sounds. The endangered jaguar, and
increasingly rare Hyacinthine macaws and giant river otters, all make their
home in the Pantanal. The Pantanal also provides incalculable economic
benefits. It offers a huge area for water purification and groundwater
discharge and recharge, climate stabilization, water supply, flood abatement,
and an extensive, transport system, among numerous other important functions.
And yet, despite the region’s beauty and remarkable environmental and economic
value, the Pantanal remains poorly unknown and faces an uncertain future
stemming from a myriad of socioeconomic pressures. While the Pantanal remains
comparatively untouched, without correct understanding, timely action and wise
management, its future could be seriously compromised.
There
have been so many images and stories to share from my Brazil trip;
however I am not finding the time to process & compile them. Today
finally the time has come to share the most awaited “My Encounters with
Jaguar”. Having seen and photographed plenty of Tigers and Leopards in
Indian forests, I was wondering what makes a Jaguar so special that
people from all over the world travel to South America especially Pantanal in Brazil to just have a glimpse of this cat. It was Saturday the 24th Sept’11, I was on the boat safari ride and the time was around 12 noon, the boatman and my guide were insisting that we stop for lunch. It is quite obvious we start the day quite early at 5:30am with breakfast and one feels hungry by noon. We hadn’t spotted any Jaguars since morning and I knew that I didn’t have all the time in the world, was here for a short stay in Pantanal, I requested that we take another round on the three brothers rivers & then break for lunch. As we were heading towards the three brothers river, suddenly a capybara from the bank that was on our right, jumped into the river. The capybara swam across and started making loud sounds. I told my guide that it’s an alarm call, to my surprise he wasn’t aware what an alarm call is? My experience in Indian forests helped me to understand the situation better.
Capybara is the largest living rodent in the world; its main diet is grass and vegetation. They belong to the wild pig family and of course cousins of wild pig. Coincidentally capybaras are the favorite meal for Jaguars, Caimans (Crocodile) & to the dangerous Anacondas. I was 100% sure that the capybara had seen the Jaguar somewhere in the bushes hence the alarm calls. Later this capybara joined a small group of other capybaras who also got cautioned hearing the alarm calls, they all were looking in one direction, as seen in the image.
Now my guide and boatman too were convinced that somewhere a Jaguar is hiding. Choku my guide used a powerful binocular and managed to spot the elusive cat. But how can I photograph this cat behind the bushes, sharing the image just that you get an idea how this beauty was nicely camouflaged & hiding.
All this while our
motor boat engine was switched off, now since we spotted the Jaguar from
a distance we had to start the engine to move in closer. The boat movement was
in our favor as the Jaguar too started to move behind the bushes on the
edge of the river bank. I remember I had only 3 or 4 occasions when he
came out partially in the open I took the opportunity to shoot few
images. The sighting lasted only for few minutes and the Jaguar again
disappeared into the bushes. Believe me it isn’t easy to shoot in a
moving boat, but fortunately I managed few decent shots. We waited for a
while, but with temperature almost ~40 degree Celsius chances of
Jaguar coming out were almost nil.
Without wasting much time I
celebrated this sighting by having a chilled SKOL:), a Brazilian beer
and we then proceeded to have our packed lunch. What happens post lunch
is very unique and even more interesting, but unfortunately you have to
wait for some time. I will share it soon, so stay tuned!
How does one differentiate between a Jaguar and a
Leopard?
While the Jaguar closely resembles the Leopard, it
is sturdier and heavier, and the two animals can be distinguished by their
rosettes, the rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually
darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks.
Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to
leopards. Unlike
other big cats, jaguars kill prey by crushing the spinal column and must have a
much stronger bite in order to do so. This means that the shape of their skull
is unique among the cat species. As a result, they have the strongest
bite-force of any member of the cat family--even stronger than lions and
tigers. The jaguar weighs twice as much on average than a leopard.
A fully grown male jaguar can even weigh up to 160 kilograms almost equivalent
to a Tiger.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
In Search of a Malabar Pit Viper
 | |
| Sensing our presence - Malabar Pit Viper |
Here I share my experience going after a very rare, venomous Snake known as the ‘Malabar Pit Viper.’ These are nocturnal
snakes & mostly active in the night and is
spotted only during monsoons. I had two choices to make for high
probability of spotting these snakes, one at Agumbe and other at
Amboli. At Agumbe accommodation is available only at Agumbe Rainforest
Research Station and one needs to book it well in advance,
Unfortunately I didn’t make any bookings, so I had no option but to travel to Amboli.
 |
| Way to Heaven |
 |
| Kavalesad |
We had made are our stay arrangements at Whistling Woods, a small homestay run by Hemant Ogale, Owner cum Naturalist/Guide and a photographer too. The accommodation was quite comfortable and the food was awesome. We ordered Non-Veg Malavani Thali, a simple meal but very delicious that consists of Sol Kadi a special konkan appetizer made of Kokam and Cocount milk and excellent for digestion, it also acts as strong antacid agent, Chapatis, Chicken Curry and Steam Rice. In addition we had ordered Fried Fish, a konkan style fry can't get any better.
 | |
| Owl Eyed Moth |
Our forest trail was on foot in search of these rare species, the trail began at 9:30pm and was expected to end at 2am. With dense mist around the visibility was down to less than 5 feet. I knew one wrong step during the forest trail could lead to fatal bite by one of these snakes of Western Ghats, so I was prepared with protective foot wear, in addition a powerful torch, rain gear for my camera equipment’s and most importantly a high intensity external Flash light for my Camera. The area is highly populated with Leeches so I had to be mentally prepared to lose a minimum 100ml of blood too. However I had applied Eucalyptus oil on my feet, it is believed that it works as a repellant to insects and leeches too.
 | |
| Green Vine Snake |
 | |
| In a mood to strike - Malabar Pit Viper |
 | |
| Hitler Bug |
There
was another drama to this, due to excitement I moved in so close that I
had to almost get in to the bushes and believe me my friend screamed
that there is another snake right on
top of my head. I stayed unmoved, in the meantime Hemant our Naturalist
whispered that it is a Cat Snake and non-venomous, he requested us not
to panic. I have some image of the Cat Snake but not that great as I
couldn’t get him in the right focus.
 | |
| The Bull Frog |
endangered species.
 | |
| Wrinkled Frog |
 | |
| Fresh Eggs laid by Wrinkled Frog |
We
walked back from the water stream and continued our amazing forest
trail in the wilderness, I was happy to learn about the Amphibians and
was eager to come here again so I asked Hemant
what is the best time to visit, he replied that end of June or 1st
week July is ideal season for studying and spotting these rare species.
We walked further and spotted another rare species of a snake known as
the Bamboo Pit Viper. I was so happy
to see such beautiful species that too in pitch darkness, of course
photographing them was a real challenge. I managed few decent shots of
Bamboo Pit Viper and our luck continued as we spotted plenty of Green
Vine Snakes, Cat Snakes and finally we again got
a Malabar Pit Viper in the open.
 |
| Waiting for his prey - Bamboo Pit Viper |
 | |
| Triangle Head - Malabar Pit Viper |
 | |
| Deccan Banded Gecko |
 | |
| Curious Gecko |
 | |
| Malabar Pit Viper |
 | |
| Malabar Gliding or Flying Frog |
 |
Disclaimer
– If you wish to do such trails request that you take precautionary
measures as advised by a qualified guide/naturalist, it is just not
about venomous snakes but we have records
of some frogs being highly poisonous too. Please do not venture into
the forest on your own.
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