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A dense bloom of Protoperidinium steinii was observed in the backwaters adjoining the western Bay of Bengal, Kalpakkam coast, which might be the first report for the world oceans. The brownish-red bloom appeared on 2 October 2019, and it was monitored on alternate days up to 14 October. Surface water temperature was about 27.5°C and salinity was

The experiment was conducted at Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agriculture, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha during Rabi 2017-18 to find out the efficacy of lime and micronutrients (Boron and Zinc) on production of quality heads with higher benefit cost (BC) ratio in broccoli variety “Palam Samridhi”. The experiment was laid out in split plot design with lime (with or without) as main plot while 7 levels of micronutrients (Boron and Zinc) in sub-plot replicated thrice. The results revealed that, invariably lime application increased better head quality (viz; TSS-7.060Brix, ascorbic acid- 94.70 mg 100g-1, protein-1.48% and total sugar-1.73%) with higher BC ratio (1.80) than treatment without lime (viz; TSS-6.60Brix, ascorbic acid- 86.86 mg 100g-1, protein-1.34% and total sugar-1.62% and BC ratio-1.72), irrespective of micronutrients. Similarly, combined foliar spray with borax @ 0.2% and ZnSO4 @ 0.5% recorded good quality heads (viz; TSS-7.030 Brix, ascorbic acid- 97.25 mg 100g-1, protein-1.70% and total sugar-1.79%) and higher BC ratio than rest of other treatments, irrespective of lime. Invariably, foliar spray of micronutrients were recorded better head quality (viz; TSS-7.030Brix, ascorbic acid- 97.25 mg 100g-1, protein-1.70% and total sugar-1.79%) with higher BC ratio (1.85) than corresponding soil application of micronutrients (viz; TSS-6.950Brix, ascorbic acid- 90.77 mg 100g-1, protein-1.66% and total sugar-1.73% and BC ratio-1.73). It may be concluded that soil application of lime with combined foliar spray of borax @ 0.2% and ZnSO4 @ 0.5% not only produced good quality heads but also higher profits in broccoli var. “Palam Samridhi” in acidic soil.

A field experiment was conducted at the instructional farm of Krishi Vigyan Kendra Jajpur, Odisha during 2016 to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on disease and pest incidence and yield of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) variety Pusa A-4.From the experiment it was observed that treatment T7 [RDF(75%)+ (25%) neem oil cake] has significant effect on disease incidence and pest population by reducing incidence of YVMV from 32.42% to 19.56%, jassid population from 11.57 to 6.53 per three leaves,mite population from 11.98 to 8.11 per three leaves, white fly population from 13.61 to 6.64 per three leaves and fruit borer from 17.94 % to 7.94 %. Maximum number of fruits per plant 15.02 was recorded in T7. Fruit yield per hectare varied significantly and was maximum with T7 (10.49 ton) and was minimum with T11 (7.30 ton). T7 (10.49 ton) and T5 (9.85 ton) and T10 (9.65 ton) were at par with each other. Combined use of 75 % RDF as inorganic fertilizer with 25 % RDF through neem oil cake (T7) recorded highest gross income of Rs.1,45,770/-, net income Rs.85,458 /- per hectare and maximum benefit cost ratio 2.42.

A study was carried out in the coastal waters of Kalpakkam with the objectives to evaluate the seasonality in hydrobiological parameters in surface and bottom waters, and assess the anthropogenic stress and monsoonal flux on a spatiotemporal scale. The study covered an area of approximately 100 km2 in the coastal environment. Relatively high values for pH, temperature, and TP were observed during the post-monsoon (POM) season. The monsoon (MON) season was linked with TN, ammonia, and DO concentrations as all these parameters have shown increased values during this season due to freshwater input. The summer (SUM) season was characterized by salinity, turbidity, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate, indicating a true marine environmental condition for plankton production. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) indicated the presence of distinct coastal water masses with respect to seasons and sampling regions. The spatial pattern indicated the distinctness of the coastal nearshore water (CNW) and coastal offshore water (COW) with respect to water quality. The CNW was more dynamic due to direct external influence as compared to the relatively stable COW environment. Similarly, the study region in the northern part, which is continuously exposed to the backwater inputs and tourism activities, was statistically different from the southern part.

Biofouling may be defined as the attachment and subsequent growth of a community of usually visible plants and animals on manmade structures exposed to seawater environment. Man has long been aware of this problem. In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle is reported to have stated that small “fish” (barnacles) were able to slow down ships. Fouling of ship hulls, navigational buoys, underwater equipment, seawater piping systems, industrial or municipal intakes, beach well structures, oil rigs and allied structures has often been reported. In the past few decades, the list of affected structures has expanded. Now, reports are common regarding the biofouling that affects Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants, offshore platforms, moored oceanographic instruments and nuclear and other submarines. The impact of biofouling on sea front structures is staggering. Ships show a 10% higher fuel consumption caused by increased drag and frictional resistance resulting from hull and propeller fouling. Water lines lose their carrying capacity and speed of flow owing to biofouling growth along pipe systems. The heat exchanger performance declines due to attachment of biofoulants. Many marine organisms themselves face the constant problem of being colonized and overgrown by fouling organisms. Immobile plants and animals are generally exposed to biofouling and consequent loss of species and community assemblages. Biofouling also promotes corrosion of materials. The money and material needed for fouling protection measures are indeed exorbitant. It is estimated that the marine industry incurs an expenditure of 10 billion sterling pounds a year to combat the situations arising from biofouling worldwide (Satpathy, 1990). A lot of research effort has been devoted to understand the fundamental ecology and biology of fouling environments, organisms and communities in diverse settings. The huge requirement of cooling water as well as accrescent demand on the freshwater has led to the natural choice for locating power plants in the coastal sites where water is available in copious amount at relatively cheap rate. For example, a 500 MW (e) nuclear power plant uses about 30 m3sec-1 of cooling water for extracting heat from the condenser 11

A study was carried out in the coastal waters of Kalpakkam with the objectives to evaluate the seasonality in hydrobiological parameters in surface and bottom waters, and assess the anthropogenic stress and monsoonal flux on a spatiotemporal scale. The study covered an area of approximately 100 km

Seafood, intertidal biota, beach sediment, and seawater from Kalpakkam coast, Bay of Bengal were analyzed for 210Po to evaluate the internal exposure and other radiological safety aspects. Kalpakkam houses various nuclear power generation facilities on its coast. The activity concentration of 210Po was more pronounced in the intertidal organisms. Pelagic planktivorous fishes have the highest activity of the non-technogenic radionuclide, followed by the detrital feeders, benthic planktivores, benthic carnivores, and pelagic carnivore fishes. The affinity of 210Po to organic detrital matter and planktonic organisms has led to a higher accumulation of radionuclide in planktivorous fishes. Activity concentration of 210Po in seafood ranged between 1.13 ± 0.3 and 96.71 ± 1.6 Bq kg−1 (Becquerel/kilogram). In seaweeds and gastropods, it ranged from 2.09 ± 0.2 to 8.21 ± 0.6 and from 9.31 ± 0.7 to 21.58 ± 1.2 Bq kg−1, respectively. The committed effective dose (CED) of 210Po in seafood varied from 31.18 to 456.68 μSv yr−1 (microSievert/year). Radiological hazard parameters, such as activity intake, CED in consumption, of the seafood from this coast are within the acceptable levels prescribed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection and US Environmental Protection Agency.

The present study reports a dense bloom of the marine-diatom Hemidiscus hardmanianus observed off the Tuticorin coast in the Gulf of Mannar (GoM), India. The surface water discoloration (pale green) was observed during a coastal survey conducted in the initial period of the northeast monsoon (October 2018). The bloom extended over an area of approximately 5 km2 around the Tuticorin harbor. Distribution and relative abundance of the phytoplankton and zooplankton species together with the water quality and Chlorophyll-a were studied in the area of bloom. H. hardmanianus density was maximum (10.57 × 104 cells L−1) in the bloom site, which was almost 97% of the total phytoplankton population. The present report is the first record of H. hardmanianus bloom in the Gulf of Mannar. The chain-forming diatom Biddulphia biddulphiana was also observed in strong numbers (802 and 432 cells L−1), which has been rarely reported from the Indian coastal waters.

Environmental studies such as coastal hydrography, biodiversity, nutrient dynamics, and thermal ecology have been carried out for the last several years at Kalpakkam, which harbors several nuclear facilities. The objective is to create baseline data as well as to assess the operational impact of the above facilities on environmental variables. The coastal waters are significantly influenced by monsoonal rainfall as well as by the adjoining backwater discharge, which gets anthropogenic inputs from various sources. The frequency of the appearance of bloom at this coast has increased, adversely affecting the coastal water quality and biological community. The phytoplankton density has increased during the posttsunami period as compared to the pretsunami period. Nitrogenous nutrients were found to limit the phytoplankton population during late summer and premonsoon periods. Mussels and barnacles constituted about 60%–70% of the total biofouling organisms at this location; barnacles settled throughout the year. Among the major groups of zooplankton, only bivalves established a successful relationship between larval abundance and adult settlement. Presence of about 300 species of marine fishes were recorded out of which 53 were new records and it also included a species new to fishery science. Habitat diversity and niche specialization analyses show 45.51% of the species are reef-associated, an indication of the unpolluted characteristics of these coastal waters. The results of recent thermal pollution studies revealed that a very small area in the discharge location is highly impacted. A recent survey of the Bay of Bengal area revealed the presence of a minimum oxygen zone (MOZ) at shallow depth (

A study was carried out in the coastal waters of Kalpakkam, southeast coast of India, to find out the seasonal variation in dinoflagellate community struc- ture. Samples were collected for a period of 4 years during 2006-2010. During the study 69 species of di- noflagellates were encountered among which Ceratium furca and Prorocentrum micans were most common during all the seasons. Genus Ceratium was found to be the most diverse one with 23 species which was followed by genus Protoperidinium with 16 species. Of 69 species, 27 species were considered as dominant based on their abundance during pre-monsoon (PRM), monsoon (MON) and post-monsoon (POM) periods. Relatively high density and diversity of dinoflagellates were encountered during the PRM period as compared to the MON and POM periods. Abundance pattern of dinoflagellates for three seasons showed the following trend: PRM>POM>MON. Salinity showed a positive correlation with dinoflagellate community showing its importance in dinoflagellate growth and sustenance. Ammonia and phosphate developed negative correla- tion with dinoflagellate density indicating the utilization of these nutrients by the dinoflagellate community. The presence of three dinoflagellate associations, broadly representing the three seasons experienced at this loca- tion, was evident from the cluster analysis. The study revealed presence of 19 relatively abundant toxic/red tide forming dinoflagellate species in the coastal waters of Kalpakkam.

In order to understand the phytoplankton community structure and its relationship with the envi- ronmental variables in the near shore waters of Kalpakkam, east coast of India, observations were car- ried out during 2008-2009. Phytoplankton population was comprised of 219 species, and the density was higher during the southwest monsoon (SWM) and inter-monsoon seasons than that of north east monsoon (NEM) season. The nutrient status on a temporal and spatial scale indicated the impact of point sources car- rying anthropogenic runoff. Comparison of ambient nutrient ratios with the Redfield ratio (N/P/Si= 16:1:16) showeda clear temporalvariation inthe factors that regulatethe phytoplankton growth. SWM and inter- monsoon season was evident to have an acute N- limitation of algal growth (~76 %) whereas P- limitation was encountered during the NEM season (~75 %). Interestingly, a sizable population of cyanobacteria (Trichodesmium erythraeum) were no- ticed during NEM season when there was an exponential increaseinnitrogenconcentration,probably due to nitrogen fixation. No significant impact of tem- perature on phytoplankton proliferation was observedin situ during the study period.

The feasibility of a potential bioindicator based on functional groups of microzooplankton tintinnids for bioassessments of water quality status was studied during southwest monsoon (June to September) along the coastal waters of Kalpakkam, India during 2012-2015. The work highlights the following features (1) tintinnid community composed of 28 species belonging to 11 genera and 9 families, revealed significant differences among the four study sites (2) maximum numerical abundance (2224±90ind. l-1) and species diversity (H'=2.66) of tintinnid were recorded towards Bay of Bengal whereas minimum abundance (720±35ind. l-1) and diversity (H'=1.74) were encountered in the backwater sites, (3) multivariate analyses [RELATE, Biota-environment (BIOENV) and canonical analysis of principal coordinates (CAP)] reveal that chl a, nitrate and phosphate were the potential causative factors for tintinnid distribution. Based on the results, we suggest that tintinnids may be used as a potential bioindicator of water quality status in marine ecosystem.

Seasonal observations on water-quality parameters and chlorophyll-a in the coastal waters off Kalpakkam, southeast coast of India, was carried out covering an area of about 30 km(2) to find out the variations in physicochemical properties during a monsoonal cycle of the year. Most of the parameters exhibited a significant spatial and seasonal variation. It revealed that the coastal water was significantly influenced by freshwater input from the nearby backwaters during North-east monsoon and post-monsoon periods. A marginal increase in pH from coast towards offshore was noticed during the observation. Relatively low salinity values were observed during pre and post monsoon when compared to summer. Bottom water was found to be highly turbid during summer and pre-monsoon conditions when compared to surface. This could be attributed to the strong northerly wind and northward current prior to the onset of southwest monsoon. N, P and Si based nutrients are relatively high in their concentration in the bottom water. Nitrate was significantly high during post-monsoon and contributed greatly towards total nitrogen as evident from the statistical correlation. Ammonia concentration was relatively high in the bottom samples during all the seasons except on a few occasions during post-monsoon. In general, phosphate and total phosphorous values remained low and particularly so in the surface water. Higher silicate concentration was observed in the bottom water, and there was a reducing trend towards offshore. High chlorophyll-a values were observed during summer and surface water was found to have higher pigment concentrations as compared to the bottom. Results show that phosphate acts as the limiting factor for phytoplankton production particularly during post-monsoon period whereas; none of the nutrients were found to be limiting the phytoplankton growth during other seasons.

A significant variation in physicochemical properties of the Kalpakkam coastal waters, eastern part of India, was observed during the event of southwest to northeast monsoon transition. Increase in nitrate, total nitrogen, and silicate concentrations were noticed during post-transition period. Ammonia concentration was at peak during transition period as compared to pre- and post-transition periods. Hypo-saline condition (~23 psu) was observed during post-transition as the surface water salinity decreased by ~10 psu from the pre-transitional values. Turbidity, suspended particulate matter, phosphate and total phosphorous values decreased marginally, coinciding with northward to southward current reversal. A drastic decrease (eightfold) in chlorophyll-a concentration was observed in the coastal water during post-transition period.