The Man who put India on the Global Freediving Map with 4 National Records in May 2022, Mario is India’s Only Level 3 Freediving Instructor & Instructor Trainer.
Mario, a native Goan, hails from a humble background.His youth was spent against the backdrop of the ocean, exploring its various depths and nurturing a deep connection with the myriad life beneath its surface.
Indian Freediving champion, Mario Fernandes, had set four national records last year in May, accentuating India’s global presence in this challenging sport. As India’s only Level 3 Freediving Instructor and instructor trainer. His record-breaking performance took place in Israel under the International Association for the Development of Apnea (AIDA). He excelled in four categories: Constant Weight With Bi-Fins(45m), Free Immersion (40m), Dynamic With Bi-Fins (86m), Static Apnea, where he held his breath for an impressive 4 minutes and 29 seconds, submerging at the water’s surface. His personal best breath-hold time is 7 minutes during training.
Prachi pursued her Post-graduate degree in zoology with a specialization in Oceanography and fishery science in India. After completing her studies, she started her career as a research scholar at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography. She passionately pursued conservation for sea turtle conservation in her coastal state, Maharashtra. Now she has ventured into sea life by joining for recovery of the charismatic marine mammal (king of the sea)- Dugong,to make a difference in marine life conservation. Currently, she is working on Dugong conservation in India at the Wildlife Institute of India and working on Ph.D. on seagrass-associated fauna from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Vadodara. She received the women’s divers hall of fame dive grant. She is also a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) & Commission on Education and Communication (CEC). Her research interests include understanding the ecology of endangered species, diversity assessment of marine life, and connecting the conserving ecosystem benefits with livelihood.
Lisbon, a resident of Vasai, along with his wife Zsuzsanna, has been leading efforts to organize beach clean-up initiatives along the Vasai coast since 2017. Over a span of six years, Lisbon and his dedicated team have successfully removed more than 700 tonnes of plastic waste from the shores. However, he acknowledges that the proper disposal of the collected waste remains a persistent challenge.
Collaborating with groups like “My Plastic Free Vasai” and “प्लास्टिक मेरी जिम्मेदारी,” they now extend their efforts to residential complexes, encouraging plastic waste recycling.
Beyond their routine beach clean-up campaigns and recycling initiatives, Lisbon and his team actively engage with schools and colleges by delivering presentations about the adverse impacts of plastics and excessive consumption. Additionally, they are deeply involved in planting mangroves and tree saplings along the coastline, with an impressive count of over 5000 saplings planted to date. They have also partnered with international shipping companies and the NGO eyesea.org to explore more affordable options for removing plastic waste from the environment.
Dr. Madhuri Pathak, Scientist has been engaged in teaching, research and extension activities related to Aquaculture System Management, Shrimp Farming, Aquaculture Environment Management.
Intensively involved in the research of Seaweed integration with shrimp farming.
Dr. Karankumar Ramteke is a distinguished Scientist in the field of Fisheries Resource Management at ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education (ICAR-CIFE) in Mumbai. With a keen focus on spatial ecology, Dr. Ramteke’s expertise lies in leveraging remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to unravel complex ecological patterns and processes. His research endeavors also encompass fisheries quantitative assessment and the intricate dynamics of fishing interactions. Dr. Ramteke’s profound insights and innovative approach have made significant contributions to our understanding of aquatic ecosystems and sustainable fisheries management. His dedication to advancing the field is evident through his multidisciplinary work, contributing to the holistic conservation and utilization of marine resources.
Mr. Abuthagir Iburahim is working as Scientist in Fisheries resources management in Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai since 2020. Prior to that he worked along with several NGOs of Mumbai for creating awareness realted to marine diversity. He is co authors of books such as instant Indian fisheries and instant world fisheries. He has worked on Bagnet fisheries along the coast of Maharashtra and has around 10 publications realted to Indian fisheries. He is also one of the content creator for the social media page thefisherieschanikyaneeti.
Zia Hajeebhoy is a passionate sailor and loves the outdoors. Her focus in the last decade has been to create awareness of the beautiful coastline and water ways that India has and to instil in people the joy for sailing and thereby respect for the ocean. Sailing is an environmentally friendly sport powered by wind. Zia has built the Aquasail brand and created access to sailing driven by the vision of building eco friendly leisure and sporting activities that will help create awareness about the oceans and the planet. Over a 130000 people have experienced sailing as a result. Zia is an alumnus of St Xaviers College and Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. She has recently published her first book.
Dr. Paramita Banerjee Sawant is currently working as a Principal Scientist (Division of Aquaculture) in ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai. She started her academic career in the year 2000, as Lecturer, Faculty of Fisheries in West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS, Kolkata) and thereafter qualified the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) examination to join ICAR at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) followed by the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE).
She specializes in ornamental fish culture, breeding and colour enhancement of native and high-value ornamental fishes using processed biowaste, has guided 14 Masters’ and 4 Doctoral students and has generated several technologies in her field of specialization. In the twenty-three years of her career, she has trained several ornamental fish farmers, young fisheries professionals and young fisheries enthusiasts under Tribal Sub Plan and CAFT training programs. She has to her credit, 144 research publications, several resource books and training manuals in English, Hindi, and local languages for students, entrepreneurs and ornamental fish farmers. Dr. Paramita is recipient of several National and International awards notable among which are Best Teacher Award, Stree Kartiva Samman Award, of ICAR and Govt. of Maharashtra. She has headed a number of projects and is presently associated as PI with the prestigious “All India Network Project on Ornamental Fish Breeding and Culture” of ICAR and the World Bank funded “National Agricultural Higher Education Project”.
Dr Rina Dev, founder & president of RiWild Sanctuary which is a rehabilitation centre for birds and urban wildlife based in Karjat. Having trained in various wildlife setups in South Africa, New Zealand, the US and Maldives where she interned with the Olive Ridley turtle project.
She is also currently working with exotics in Mumbai and also works with rescued wildlife on a probono basis where she offers her services to wildlife in distress right from first aid, treatments, surgeries and rehabilitation.
She is a consultant to the Marine Wildlife transit centre established for stranded Marine Wildlife in Maharashtra which rescued stranded olive Ridley turtles, dolphins and other cetaceans on the coast of Mumbai. Due to her immense field work experience, she has helped to contribute to better improving standards of treatment and rehabilitation for wildlife in India. Currently, she is also associated with RAW, which works primarily with urban wildlife. In recognition of her work, she was awarded the Carl Zeiss Wildlife Conservation Award 2017 for her contribution to wildlife conservation in India and also was awarded the Association of Avian Veterinarian (USA) Scholarship 2016.
Dr. Madhumita Kale is the Veterinarian in charge of the Humboldt penguin facility in V.J.B. Udyan and Zoo. She is the first Veterinarian in India to successfully work with penguins in captivity and manage their captive breeding. She has completed her Bachelor’s in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc & AH) from Mumbai Veterinary College. Further, she did her Master’s in veterinary science (MVSc) in Wildlife Health from Massey University, New Zealand. She has wide experience in working with a range of wild animals during her post-graduation. She has also published a paper ‘Interspecies differences in plasma concentration of 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D3 and dermal vitamin D synthesis in Kiwi, Tuatara and New Zealand Sea lions in the Journal of comparative physiology.
Sejal Mehta is an author and editor. She has worked in the publishing landscape (print and digital) for 20 years. Her book on shore wildlife – Superpowers on the Shore, published by Penguin RandomHouse is in stores in May 2022. She has been part of the core teams that started and helmed Lonely Planet Magazine India, National Geographic Traveller India, Nature inFocus, Saevus Wildlife. Her past work includes JPMorgan Editorial and Femina. You’ll find her words in newspapers and magazines including Scroll, Mongabay, The Indian Express, The Hindu, BBC Top Gear, BBC Knowledge, TOI to name a few. She works on content and strategy and communications for organisations and corporate brands.
She is a published fiction author for children’s books (by Pratham books) and two anthologies, published by Hachette India (Magical Women) and Scholastic (Grandma’s Tales).
To further her individual outreach goals, she has launched Snaggletooth, a line of nature-inspired merchandise that illustrates positive associations between humans and animals.
Pradip Patade is a Co-Founder at Marine Life of Mumbai and Coastal Conservation Foundation. He is a former Human Resources professional and watersports instructor. A native of Mumbai, takes a tremendous interest in the vast unexplored marine life in the city. Seen mostly chatting with fishers and trawlers on the shore of Mumbai, the 55 year-old made a career switch that would later change his life forever. Pradip has vast field experience and leads shore walks to raise awareness about Maharashtra’s marine biodiversity. Intimately familiar with the shores of Mumbai, he has been documenting the biodiversity and threats to these shores for several years now. His long-term aim of bringing these little-known details to the notice of Mumbai’s citizens and decision-makers is what drives the Marine Life of Mumbai initiative.
Founder & President RAWW Mumbai, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Thane District, appointed by Maharashtra State Forest Department. Been working towards human wildlife conflict mitigation and urban wildlife conservation by rescuing distressed wildkinds and spreading awarness about their conservation. Have been working towards marine wildlife conservation, rescue and rehabilitation. Have been helping the Mangrove Cell of Maharashtra Forest Department in rescuing stranded marine animals, birds and reptiles like dolphins, flamingos, sea turtles.
Zsuzsanna who is Hungarian and has been living in India after marrying Mumbai businessman Ferrao in 2013 has been organising beach clean-up drives in Vasai since 2017. In the five years, Zsuzsanna and her team have managed to remove 500 tonnes of plastic from the beaches. She however admits that the disposal of the collected waste is still a challenge. According to her the waste that is being piled up on the beaches is not just making the area dirty, but also causing much harm to the environment and the local ecosystem. Other than the regular clean-up drives on the beaches, Zsuzsanna and her team are also involved in planting mangroves and tree saplings along the coastline.