Sacred Heart Marine Research Center
Tuticorin, South India

The Sacred Heart Marine Research Center (SHMRC) is situated in the southeastern tip of India in the city of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu province.  The Center was recognized in 1991 by Madurai Kamaraj University as a research center leading to a Ph.D. degree.

 

The collaboration between SHMRC and Poseidon dates back to 1994 and continues to this day. SHMRC’s research operation is directed by Sister Dr. Avelin Mary, a Roman Catholic nun belonging to the Congregation of Mother of Sorrows, Servants of Mary. Sister Avelin has worked with Poseidon and its affiliated companies on an exclusive basis in an exciting program to discover natural products with practical applications as antifouling agents.

In December 2004, SHMRC  completed the construction of its new Beach Research Laboratories along the shore of Tuticorin Bay in Karrapad. Because this new facility is in close proximity to the floating test platforms in the protected bay area, this new facility enables SHMRC to expand its R&D capabilities in marine coatings evaluation and marine research. Soon after its completion, the 2004 tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, also had Tuticorin along its direct path.  Miraculously, the beach facilities and the staff who were in the labs and on the platforms survived the tsunami. For more information about this cataclysmic event, please click here.

 

Shown on the left are the floating test platforms for static immersion testing and the new dynamic immersion test facility.  For more detailed information about the tests and the test site, please click HERE.

Leach rate analysis.  Marine paints are among the major sources of pollution of the oceans.  This results from the leaching of biocides and heavy metals from the submerged portions of the hull as the ship travels or while in port.  Thus, the measurement of the release of copper, zinc and other biocides from marine paints is important in determining not only the efficiency of the marine paints, but also its environmental consequences.  SHMRC currently operates a new test facility that enables the measurement of release of biocides from marine paints and submerged surfaces following ASTM methods.  Current R&D involves development of improved methods of measuring biocide release by integrating SHMRC's field research capabilities and its laboratory testing operation to establish a more suitable method that more closely approximates the biocide release under marine conditions.

The Marine Ecosystem of Tuticorin Bay

Tamil Nadu has a coastline of 992 kilometers. This seaboard is touched by the Bay of Bengal, Palk Strait, Gulf of Mannar, and the Arabian Sea. The water supports the growth of several genera of octocorals and many other organisms known to produce bioactive compounds.

Soft corals of varied shapes and colors flourish along the Gulf of Mannar, presenting one of the most beautiful sights in the world, rivaling the most gorgeous flower gardens. Coral animals thrive best in warm, shallow, clear, well-lit and well-oxygenated waters, conditions that are found only in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The reef-building corals remain quite restricted in their distribution and can grow only where the water temperature never falls below 20 degrees Celsius. The coral formations of the southeast coast of India are mostly centered around the small islands in the Gulf of Mannar from Rameswaram to Tuticorin, and along the shores of Rameswaram Island and Mandapam Peninsula in Palk Bay.

The coral reef of the Gulf of Mannar is a barrier also known as Mannar Barrier, which extends to a length of nearly 140 kilometers. The 20 small islands that stretch from Rameswaram to Tuticorin are typical sand cays that develop in the barrier.

Barnacles and sponges are the most abundant representatives of the community in Karapad Creek in Tuticorin Bay. Anemones, hydroids, polychaetes, bivalves and ascidians also constitute considerable portions of the community.

Bryozoans and serpulids reported to be abundant in other localities along the coast of India are not significant here.  The poor representation of Bryozoans is probably due to heavy silt and high rates of sedimentation in the creek especially during rainy season, and the dense settlement of encrusting sponges. When sponges are abundant, they were found to inhibit the settlement of other major fouling animals by covering the substrata almost completely.

The common fouling organisms found in Tuticorin Bay are shown in the table below:

Sponges                 Hydroids                                Sea Anemone                 Polychaetes

Prostylyssa            Obelia gracilis                       Sagartia sp                   Serpulids Foetida                  Campanularia sp                                                          Errant Polychaetes                                 Sertularia sp                                                                  Mud tube-dwelling                                                                                                                               Polychaetes  

Isopods                             Amphipods                          Decapods              Cirripedes

Sphaeroma walkeri       Coroohium triaenonyx      Picnogonids        Balanus amphitrite   Cirolana bovina             Carprella sp                        Copepods

Mussels & Oysters                                     Ascidians

Musculista arcuatula                      Didemnum psamathodes                                                            Anomia achaens                            Diplosoma    macdonaldi                                                         Crassostrea madrasensis            Styela bicolor                                                                     Modiolus carvolhoi                        Symplegma viride                                                                          Venerupis sp                                  Lissoclinum fragile

 
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