In a place not far away from Puducherry are a sunken scooter and a world buzzing with activity, home to more than a 100 marine species and residents like Steve, a grouper, and Cassandra, a yellow Frogfish.
This is Temple Reef, an artificial reef, off the coast of Puducherry, created by Temple Adventures, a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) scuba diving centre here. Temple Adventures, popular with tourists visiting Puducherry, was started in 2007 by S.B. Aravind, and Australians Rob and Dave.
Temple Reef, named after Temple Adventures, and because of its similarity in structure to a temple, is at a depth of 18 metres and consists of materials like palm leaves, a neem tree, rocks, stones, iron bars, and of course, the recycled scooter. A second artificial reef site, named Wreck City, is also being created close by.
The team at Temple Adventures found large areas of sandy bottom in the Puducherry waters when they first began diving in the area, and marine life only at a depth of 18 metres which is out of bounds for beginner divers. This is when the idea of creating an artificial reef took shape. While work on the Temple Reef began in 2013, Mr. Aravind first experimented with the idea of an artificial reef when he sunk his car into the waters in 2011. “I learnt my lesson about how not to create an artificial reef. The car was taken away by trawlers,” he says. The scooter has been thus tied down with rocks.
Neela Bhaskar, an Open Water Scuba Instructor says, “Trawlers have routinely destroyed habitats. The artificial reef allows fish to hide and breed. From nothing, the area is now thriving with activity, and divers are able to see marine life from a depth of 7 metres.”
Among the dive sites being explored by the team, barracudas, groupers, batfish, moray eels, cuttlefish, stonefish, lionfish, scorpion, silver moonics, shrimps, surgeonfish, angelfish, jackfish, fan corals, jellyfish, boxfish, trumpet fish, puffer fish and blenny are some of the marine life which can be spotted in the Puducherry waters. Whale sharks have also been seen by some divers.
Vibodh Rath, a diving instructor says, “Every fish has a story. For instance, you will always find angel fish in pairs and small fish in groups so they look bigger to predators.”
Protecting ecology
Mr. Aravind says maintaining marine ecology is part of a diver’s responsibility. The team at Temple Adventures routinely rescues turtles and fish caught in nets.
“We feel satisfied when letting these animals free,” says Mr. Aravind, who is a certified PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) Staff Instructor and paragliding pilot. Divers have found the Puducherry waters to have plastic and other waste material in which dead corals are found, he says. Once a year, a team of 12 to 15 divers from the organisation take part in an underwater cleanup.
Temple Adventures, which offers a variety of PADI courses, is set to begin a branch in Chennai. The organisation also works closely with the Coast Guard and Marine Police of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
