Marine National park at Narara Bet in Gujarat is attracting a large number of tourists, as diverse aquatic species are available here. In the marine park's shallow waters, various species like live coral, live shell, algae plants, live oyster, prawns and crabs are easily seen floating and unwinding. Narara Bet is one of the 42 islands in the Arabian Sea covered by coral reefs and mangrove swamps which is a paradise for marine life lovers.The sea of Gujarat is around 1600 KM, longest for a state in India. And Jamnagar has around 220 KM of longest sea-shore in whole Gujarat. The low tide marine national park makes Jamnagar an interesting place for Aquatic Species lovers.
B K Shilu, Forest Officer, Narara Range was our guide.We did not waste anytime and started our trek. Shilubhai is a gem of a person very humble and had a sound knowledge about this marine park. Before starting he gave us some instructions regarding the history of the park and strictly told not to carry any plastic bags because it may pollute the whole area. As we entered the park it was surrounded by mangroves, Shilubhai explained the importance of mangroves to our environment, it is a great help during tsunami and shelter for birds too. "The sea in Gujarat is specifically different from other seas of the country because marine life here can be seen simply walking in low tide. You can experience something like this in very few places in the world. One has to go underwater even in the Great Barrier Reef, where a variety of corals and marine life is found," said Shilubhai.
As we were walking through mangroves, Shilubhai caught hold of a crab and showed us each and every part of its body. Kids were really happy seeing the first sighting of Narara. Most of this marine creatures do have a gods give gift that is camouflage that helps to protect themselves from there enemies. A few yards away Shilubhai caught hold of an Octopus it was light brown in colour an injected ink like blue colour when it was caught, he showed as its tentacles and let us have the feel of that vaccum effect when we touched the tentacles.
In between he showed us marine vegetation algae, sea cucumber, sponge and one unusual thing something really beautiful looked as big as a lotus leaf and look alike moss I have also posted the photo, the best part of this was when touched it simply disappears.
We were sweating it was almost 7.50 am at that moment Shilubhai caught hold of a Star Fish, he allowed us to touch and have a feel of it. It was live Oyster this time and I took the photo of it. We walk through the Coral reefs for about 20 minutes, now it was time to return our mood was off because the best part of Narara is the Puffer Fish. I told Shilubhai unless an until we see Puffer Fish we will not go back. At around 9.10 am Shilubhai caught hold of the Puffer Fish.
The best part of Puffer Fish is when it is water it looks like a normal fish and as soon as you catch hold of this fish it turns in a small size of a hand ball. And it can stay alive for almost two to three hours as its body is filled with water. I thank Shilubhai for sharing his valuable information regarding marine life. For me it was a dream come true.
B K Shilu, Forest Officer, Narara Range was our guide.We did not waste anytime and started our trek. Shilubhai is a gem of a person very humble and had a sound knowledge about this marine park. Before starting he gave us some instructions regarding the history of the park and strictly told not to carry any plastic bags because it may pollute the whole area. As we entered the park it was surrounded by mangroves, Shilubhai explained the importance of mangroves to our environment, it is a great help during tsunami and shelter for birds too. "The sea in Gujarat is specifically different from other seas of the country because marine life here can be seen simply walking in low tide. You can experience something like this in very few places in the world. One has to go underwater even in the Great Barrier Reef, where a variety of corals and marine life is found," said Shilubhai.
As we were walking through mangroves, Shilubhai caught hold of a crab and showed us each and every part of its body. Kids were really happy seeing the first sighting of Narara. Most of this marine creatures do have a gods give gift that is camouflage that helps to protect themselves from there enemies. A few yards away Shilubhai caught hold of an Octopus it was light brown in colour an injected ink like blue colour when it was caught, he showed as its tentacles and let us have the feel of that vaccum effect when we touched the tentacles.In between he showed us marine vegetation algae, sea cucumber, sponge and one unusual thing something really beautiful looked as big as a lotus leaf and look alike moss I have also posted the photo, the best part of this was when touched it simply disappears.
We were sweating it was almost 7.50 am at that moment Shilubhai caught hold of a Star Fish, he allowed us to touch and have a feel of it. It was live Oyster this time and I took the photo of it. We walk through the Coral reefs for about 20 minutes, now it was time to return our mood was off because the best part of Narara is the Puffer Fish. I told Shilubhai unless an until we see Puffer Fish we will not go back. At around 9.10 am Shilubhai caught hold of the Puffer Fish.
The best part of Puffer Fish is when it is water it looks like a normal fish and as soon as you catch hold of this fish it turns in a small size of a hand ball. And it can stay alive for almost two to three hours as its body is filled with water. I thank Shilubhai for sharing his valuable information regarding marine life. For me it was a dream come true.
2 comments:
Hey Harsh,
Beautiful information about the park with images. Good to know that you are learning something creative and important in your vacation time. All the Best.
Thanks.
very well written
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