Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park

Template:Infobox protected area Template:Infobox islands Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park is a national park of India near Wandoor on the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the South Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

History

The park was created on 24 May 1983 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 to protect marine life such as the corals and nesting sea turtles prevalent in the area. It was placed under the protection of the Chief Wildlife Warden of the forest department of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it is open creeks running through the park area were a special attraction.

Geography

There are 2 major island groups in the park: the Labyrinth Islands and the Twin Islands. The islands are situated Template:Convert south from Port Blair. The marine park covers 281.5 km² made up of 17 islands and the open sea creeks running through the area. There is a chance for ecotourism on the islands Jolly Buoy and Red Skin. The islands belong to the Rutland Archipelago and are located between Rutland Island and South Andaman Island.

Ecosystems

Most of the coral reefs in the park are fringing reefs. The type and composition of vegetation vary from island to island. Most notably there you can see a difference between the tourist islands which suffer more anthropocentric change and others which do not. There are also some islands more isolated or protected from the effects of weather in the Bay of Bengal. Tarmugli, the largest island, is covered with thick mangrove vegetation, sand covered beaches, uprooted trees and sheet rocks. Twin Islands are an important breeding ground for turtles within the park.

List of Islands

Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park has some 20 islands and rocks.

	Island	Sobriquet	type	Location	Area (hectares)	Coastline (km)	Length (km)	Width (km)	elevation (m)
1	Alexandra		island	Template:Coord	408.8	9.3	2.5	2.00	0.00
2	Bell		island	Template:Coord	6.7	1	0.38	0.21	0.00
3	Boat		island	Template:Coord	247.6	7.71	2.7	1.3	27.00
4	Chester		island	Template:Coord	6.6	1.00	0.33	0.33	0.00
5	Grub		island	Template:Coord	2.3	0.7	0.13	0.25	24.00
6	Hobday		island	Template:Coord	367.80	10.50	3.23	1.91	0.00
7	Jolly Buoy		island	Template:Coord	18.80	2.50	1.10	0.20	45.00
8	Malay		island	Template:Coord	80.20	4.25	1.71	0.61	68.00
9	Pluto		island	Template:Coord	13.3	1.81	0.75	0.22	49.00
10	Red Skin		island	Template:Coord	428.20	12.39	4.9	1.4	46.00
11	Riflemen		island	Template:Coord	2.40	0.70	0.27	0.15	0.00
12	Snob		island	Template:Coord	17.65	2.18	0.96	0.26	75.00
13	Tarmugli		island	Template:Coord	1216.70	20.00	5.5	3.8	78.00
14	West Twin		island	Template:Coord	38.70	0.00	0.00	0.00	48.00
15	East Twin		island	Template:Coord	20.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	44.00
16	North Hobday		island	Template:Coord	17.80	1.93	0.00	0.00	0.00
17	Rutland		island	Template:Coord	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
18	?		island	Template:Coord	10.10	1.77	0.00	0.00	0.00
	Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park Islands		Archipelago	Template:Coord	2904.5				0.00

Administration

Politically, all islands are part of Port Blair Taluk.

Demographics

The islands are on uninhabited land, but there is a population of 7300 living in 10 adjacent villages (mainly Manglutan and Wandoor)

Image gallery

• 
  Jolly Buoy Island, one of the 20 islands in the national park.
• 
  Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park near Port Blair, Andaman Islands
• 
  Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park during sunset .

References

• Template:Wikivoyage-inline
• Information about Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park
• 11 Status of Coral Reefs of Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, Wandoor, Andamans by K Dorairaj and R. Soundararajan