Thursday 1 May 2008

Wildlife

Wildlife including the hyena, red fox, barking deer, sea otter, dolphin, porpoise, whale.

A wide variety of fish including Surmai, ladyfish, Pomfret,sting ray, hammerhead shark, puffer fish, Mullet,Great white sharks, carp, eel, seer fish, swordfish and the seemingly rare sailfish are routinely spotted here. Shellfish like lobster, clam, mussels, periwinkle, oyster, crayfish and many types of crab are abundant. Commonly occurring birds abound like the Barn Owl, kingfisher, kite, cormorant, stork, egret, Red-whiskered Bulbul and cuckoo. Endangered species include the Great Indian Hornbill, vulture, Langur (Black faced Monkey), Giant Squirrel, Red-eyed Pheasant and Tern.

Since the mouth of the estuary opens into the Arabian Sea, the water is clean due to inter-tidal flushing. Vijaydurg also has a Port Trust, Sea & Land Customs Outposts, and a large State Transport Depot. Up until 1983, Vijaydurg was a port of call for the Konkan Steamer service, which ran two ships: Konkan Sevak and Konkan Shakti, which were later sent to supply the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Forces) in Sri Lanka.

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