KARACHI: Despite the coral bleaching reported near the Churna Islands, a team of scuba divers has found that a ‘very healthy and productive marine ecosystem’ continues to exist around the Astola Islands.
According to a statement released by WWF-Pakistan, a team of PADI Certified Indus Scuba divers had declared the area healthy after a four-day expedition from December 3-6.
“The expedition was taken as it was feared that the Astola Island may be at risk since abundant corals were found in the area along with the recent reporting of coral bleaching near Churna Island,” it added,
The team found that the coral and associated habitats were teeming with marine life including important fishes, such as barracuda, trevallies, hot-lips as well lobsters, fan-worm, sea urchins, and soft corals.
The expedition also found out the rich marine life in a shipwreck located about 4 kilometre off Astola Island. It also found a number of green turtles nesting and laying eggs on the island’s beaches and observed juvenile turtles hatching and returning to the sea.
In this regard, WWF-Pakistan’s Technical Advisor Muhammad Moazzam Khan said that Astola Island is the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) of the country. “The area is known to be rich in marine biodiversity and have a healthy ecosystem,” he added.
“It was once the largest nesting ground of the great crested tern (Thalasseus bergii) globally, however, due to the introduction of feral cats and rats, nesting colonies have dwindled in the past few decades,” Moazzam added.
