On immersion days, beware of stingrays at Chowpatty

MUMBAI: The state fisheries department has shot off a notice to the BMC alerting them about the presence of stingrays off Girgaum Chowpatty. The warning assumes significance with Ganpati immersions starting Saturday.
“We have sent our report to the civic authorrities with suggestions on precautionary measures,“ said Yuvaraj Chougule, acting deputy commissioner of fisheries, Mumbai.
This is the time of the year when a large number of females arrive close to the shore to give birth in shallow waters, explains Vinay Deshmukh, marine biologist and former chief scientist of CMFRI. “The Chowpatty beach is ideal for stingrays to give birth for its soft sand and abundance of bivalves and gastropods which are their prey; the babies immediately bury in the soft sand with only the stinger sticking out, and start feeding on these soft-bodied molluscs,“ he says.Another reason for their preference could be that Chowpatty is a bay. “Less wave action, makes the process of giving birth much easier; and shallow waters have few predators for the babies.“
Stingrays are generally not aggressive and sting humans only when they are stepped upon. A major sting incident happened in September 2013 when devotees who entered the sea to immerse idols were stung at Chowpatty .
Marine conservationist Pradip Patade believes devotees should not enter the sea in thousands and instead hand over the idols to the BMC staff that can take them further into the sea on pontoons. “The devotees will be safe and there will be less disturbance to juvenile stingrays,“ he says.