Flanked by the Arabian sea on one side and flush with lakes, rivers and ponds, Thiruvananthapuram has been blessed with an abundance of water bodies. However, not many of us have bothered to keep a close watch on the health of these blue and green waterscapes that define the landscape, cuisine and culture of the State or to understand what lies beyond the golden beaches and beneath the glittering blue of the Arabian sea.
That has been earmarked for a few specialists studying the seas or perhaps fisherfolk and mussel gatherers who depend on the sea for their livelihood. However, for the last 15 years or so Paul Calvert, an environmentalist and entrepreneur, has been documenting the rich marine life in the waters around Kovalam and Vizhinjam.
Environmentalist Paul Calvert
“I have been diving and snorkelling in the reef less than a km away from the Kovalam beach and the quality of the water has been steadily deteriorating. Earlier, it was as beautiful and bountiful as the waters around the Andamans or Lakshadweep. But once garbage, especially plastic, began to find its way into the sea, thanks to dumping of garbage into the water, the scene has completely changed,” says Paul.
A keen photographer, Paul has been documenting the rich flora and fauna in the sea around the city and he had also held an exhibition a few years ago. “Once, I was swimming and shooting when I met a giant turtle. I was shooting it when a huge lump of nasty, dirty plastic came floating out of the blue. I managed to get all of it on the camera and showed it to Dr Vasuki, Executive Director of the Kerala Suchitwa Mission,” recalls Calvert.
In the meantime, Vasuki was spearheading the Green Protocol for government functions and began raising awareness on the dangers of plastic. “Last year, Calvert showed me his photographs juxtaposed with messages that highlighted the importance of proper garbage disposal. I was quite impressed with the idea and that was how the calendar came about,” she says,
The calendar brought out by the Suchitwa Mission is a picturesque one that showcases the marine life in the sea off Kovalam. Each page also has a message and a grim photograph that shows the invasion of plastic in the sea.
It is not an easy task to photograph denizens of the deep. “For a start the visibility is often poor (far worse now). Then there is the fact that the fish are never still for a moment, twisting and turning, going up or down or towards or away from you. The water is often not still either, surging too and fro with the swell and waves whose motion reaches down to the reefs. And you, as the photographer, cannot move quickly as one does on land, but are also swirling around a bit like the fish desperately trying to be within range and pointing the right direction and be on the sunny side of the fish if possible (yes even underwater), and often you may be standing on your head. And all of this on a single breath-hold. So you can understand that thousand of photos and attempts have been made to get these photos... and the lungs tested to the limits!” says Calvert.
