Episode 29 – Adam’s Bridge Marine National Park

Seeing the destruction of rare animals cannot be forgotten

In January 2020, I started working at Adam’s Bridge National Marine Park. It was my first assignment as a wildlife Ranger.

Thalaimannar was the island’s southernmost point, and there are roughly 17 islands between there and Rameswaran in India. The eight islands that are located in Sri Lankan waters are owned by the island nation. The national marine park known as Adam’s Bridge contains these eight islands. India owns the remaining 9 islands.

Here is a bit harsh environment. The people of Thalaimannar are mostly Tamil and Muslim. There are Sinhalese people in government institutions like the police and the navy. Because there are no elephants, tigers or bears in this area, the Department of Wildlife is not very connected with public life.

The islands of Adam’s Bridge National Marine Park and the surrounding ocean are a beautiful ecosystem and also have seagrass beds. There are dugongs, turtles and fish. Dugongs and turtles go to other places to lay their eggs. They come here to reproduce and find food. That’s why the ecosystem is important to them.

Around Welipara Islands 3, 4, 5, migratory birds lay their eggs for a period of time and they are mostly Sea gull species. At that time, there are too many eggs even difficult to set foot on the islands. There are about ten thousand birds in these eight islands. When the sun sets, you can see beautiful scenery.

The shape of these islands changes day by day. There are islands of about ½ square kilometer. The 1st island is attached to Mannar Island. However, Mannar Island does not belong to Adam’s Bridge.

The total area of ​​Adam’s Bridge Park is about 18,000 hectares. A small extent of this area belongs to land and a majority area belongs to the ocean region. The wildlife department has a boat, we go on patrols in that boat. Therefore, it is difficult to go to the hurricane season and we go to the season when the sea is not rough. In the past, there were facilities to come to Thalaimannar by train and go by boat to Rameswaran and Dhanushkodi in India. There are still 2 dilapidated piers remain.

There are several legends about Adam’s Bridge. After King Ravana brought Goddess Sita to Sri Lanka, it was said that Hanumanta and the monkey army were built it for Rama and his army. It is one legend.

In addition, there is another legend connecting it to “Adam” and “Eve”. There were floating stone species here. Adam was able to find them by jumping from one stone to another.

This incident took place in “Nadu Kuda” in Thalaimannaram area. That day, on 12.12.2021, The National Park starts from Urumale area. Our office is situated in Urumale. From there, it is about 15 kilometers to Nduguda.

The office received a phone message from a fisherman saying that two big fish were entangled in his fishing net. We left to check; I went on a motorbike with the Field Assistant. Another Ranger and boat operator came in the bus.

When we went and looked, it was not fish but two dugongs caught in the net. There are only a few of them around the coast of Sri Lanka. There are no people here who have seen living sea pigs. We see only the carcasses washed ashore from the sea. But just only one within a year.

There was a female and a male animal. The female is large, about 4 feet 6 inches. The male is about 7 feet and looks like it’s mother and son.

The fisherman had already freed the net when we arrived, and both creatures were lying on the ground. I understood that the calf must have been sucking milk from the mother when I noticed the milk streaming from her nipples. It’s possible that the mother has the strength to get through the net. She might have continued to be with the infant even so.

I then asked for advice from the Assistant Director and the Head office. The head office advised that the two animals should be preserved. After that, we brought the bodies in a truck to the fish freezer in Thalaimannar.

The bodies were loaded and unloaded using a dozer. The Kilinochchi veterinarian performed the post-mortem examinations on the animals. The investigation provided proof that the animals were caught in the net and died from lack of oxygen. The two bodies were transported to the Kalpitiya Field Security Office for preservation following the autopsy. The preservation work is now being finished.

Dugongs are endangered, protected species. I was horrified by the deaths of these two animals. As a result, this experience will always be a memorable one for me.