Abstract

Anushka Dixit Mukerji

The marine resources are a major source of food, a reservoir of minerals, major suppliers of oxygen, regulator of climate and also an ultimate dumping ground for the mounting burden of human waste material. Due to unchecked anthropogenic activity in recent years, the physico-chemical and biological status of the marine environments have changed significantly, which in turn resulted in the changing environmental scenario of the world. The Bay of Bengal, of which Andaman sea is a part, is one of the largest Bay in the world known to receive large flow of sediments from several rivers and other water bodies from India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia etc., Many of these rivers bring along with them, a large quantity of effluents from cities / towns located on either side of these rivers, thus making the Bay nutrient rich. This Bay also plays a major role in determining the climatic conditions of India and other South East Asian countries. Thus its ecology is of paramount interest. Apart from the above, the Bay is also known for its oligotrophic nature as well as low productivity, thus resulting in high diversity of flora and fauna. In addition to the above, the marine zooplankton species, known to act as bioindicators, indicates the quality of water / environment. The ecological status of the Bay has a direct bearing on the lifescape of the Bay, and therefore, a study was undertaken to understand the ecological status of the Bay and to understand the marine bio-indicators, that will throw light on the status of abiotic factors of the Bay. Based on the observations, the study recommends certain appropriate measures to be taken to conserve the ecology of one of the largest Bay in the world.