The Angria Bank Expedition by Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology (CMLRE) and Wildlife Conservation Society-India

Angria Bank is a submerged plateau located approximately 65 nautical miles (120 km) offshore from Vijaydurg, Maharashtra on the western coast of India. This region is believed to have evolved as a result of a rift between India and the Seychelles Laxmi ridge in the late Cretaceous period (Rao et al., 2003; Pandey and Pandey, 2015). The bank extends up to 40 km in length and 19 km width with an undulating basalt sea floor ranging in depth from 20-200 m (CSIRNIO, 2016). The edges of the plateau are steep, and they extend downwards to about 400 feet on either side. The bank began to develop post the Holocene sea level rise, a few thousand years ago, forming coral communities dated 240 years BP (Rao et al., 2003). Today, Angria bank is the largest submerged coral reef of India. Unique in its rich biodiversity, productivity and geological formations, this region harbours an extensive area of coral reefs and algal habitats spanning 650 km2 supporting a high diversity of associated flora and fauna (CSIR-NIO, 2016; Sivakumar and Joshi, 2015; Kulkarni and Sivakumar, 2015).