In a major step towards enhancing marine biodiversity monitoring, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), in collaboration with the Mangrove and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Maharashtra, on Tuesday, October 15, launched JALCHAR, a mobile application dedicated to documenting sightings and strandings of marine mammals, birds, and other megafauna along the Maharashtra’s coastline.

JALCHAR is designed in both English and Marathi languages and local fishermen, researchers, and citizen scientists can contribute real-time data on species observations. This initiative aligns with the broader conservation goals aiming to protect Megafauna species with more data collection, research, and management strategies.