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| Sunday, 14 July 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Her mission: to save Lanka's receding corals by Carol Aloysius
A talented and innovative underwater photographer Nishamani Jinadasa, is currently on a mission to save Sri Lanka's disappearing coral beds. "I am seriously concerned about the way our coral beds are being destroyed by people who either don't care, or else don't know what they are doing. If they do not stop this wanton destruction of one of the country's most precious natural resources, there will be no coral beds left in a few years time" she warns. Over-fishing, sand mining and the ruthless tearing down of corals in order to trap ornamental fish for aquarium purposes are some of the reasons why our coral beds are disappearing,she says." For example fish that are caught for an aquarium have to be live fish. In order to catch the fish live , many fishermen put nets over the corals in which the fish might be hiding and break the coral in order to catch the fish alive. If these corals are not replaced, they will disappear forever". So how does she plan to stop this illegal practice? Through education exhibition and a hands - on exposure of the actual coral beds to anyone who is interested. All that and more is on the cards if Nishamani's first solo exhibition of underwater photographs of the sea bed taken from various locations in Sri Lanka, proves to be a success and gets the kind of interested response she hopes it will have, when it gets off the ground this month. Nishamani who belongs to a tiny band of underwater photographers in this country, is probably the only one to win an international award for her underwater photographs and videos when she earned the distinction of being the only Asian woman to win the 2nd prize at the international underwater photography contest held in Malaya in September 2000. " My base was the Sipadan islands from where I took these photographs and video films. I had to get most of these pictures at a very close range and the judges were quite pleased with them", she says modestly. A keen photographer of underwater life since her teens, Nishamani says she became seriously interested in deep sea photography only after she obtained a licence for scuba diving in 1996." Till then I used to take pictures when I was snorkling" she explains. Whereas her photography was initially limited to popular diving resorts abroad such as the Great barrier Reef in Australia, Papua Guinea, Sipadan island, Catalina island in USA and Thailand , and of course Maldives, from the year 2000 this talented underwater photographer has been focusing her attention on popular diving resorts in her own country Sri Lanka. Her attempts at capturing the breathtaking beauty of underwater life in Sri Lanka, has taken her around the island, from Negombo to Bentota , Hikkaduwa, Dehiwela to Nilaweli in the East. " I plan to go to Jaffna as well soon," she says.
Although she is not in a position to compare the present condition of the coral beds with their previous state say ten years ago, since this is her first experience in photographing them, she says that compared with the coral beds in other countries , Sri Lanka's coral beds are much more depleted . " This is a pity because previously I was told that underwater enthusiasts living abroad would come all the way from their countries to photograph our beautiful corals. Today most of these corals have disappeared, and the rest too may disappear unless something is done soon" she laments. As a first step towards protecting these coral beds, Nishamani hopes to show case around hundred colour photographs she has taken of the local diving resorts she previously mentioned at the national Art Gallery starting from July 19 . The exhibition will continue till July 21 and will open to the public free of charge from, 10 a.m to 6.30 p.m each day. "The main purpose in holding this exhibition is to create public awareness about the dangers of mining and over-fishing and the ruthless destruction of our coral beds. In addition I want to show them the exquisite fish life we have and which should be preserved. Each exhibit will carry the name of the fish displayed and a note about its habits, colours, and unusual characteristics.For example there are fish that change sex when they wish to . But not many may know about this. I shall also be displaying two photographs of some reefs I have taken abroad so that they can be compared with our own reefs. " The fish she has photographed include, lion fish, clown fish, angel fish, grouper,soft coral, moray eel, blotched ray,and a host of other fish of various colours and sizes.
To take her pictures, Nishamani says she had to swim very close to the fish since the water in Sri Lanka is very murky. " This is due to it being polluted from dirty river water which flows into the sea".Depending on the success of her first exhibition she hopes to take it to the rest of the island as well. She will target mostly schoolchildren ecause, "If you educate the young, they in turn will hopefully educate their peers and their parents and stop the rape of our corals," she feels. She hopes too to educate fisher families especially the fishermen so that they would refrain from destroying coral beds while fishing. She would also like to see more young people taking to scuba diving so that they can enjoy the exquisite beauty of underwater life in Sri Lanka. "I would like to see stricter laws and Marine Reserves being set up in this island as in other countries. This will go a long way in preserving our coral beds and fish life," she predicts." The exhibition will be at the national Art Gallery from July 19 to July 21. |
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