Marine National Park Jamnagar, Gujarat

Gujarat has the distinction of creating the country's first Marine National Park spread over an area of nearly 458 sq kms in the Gulf of Kutch, 30 kms. from Jamnagar. Here corals create fantasies in stone and are the master builders of the Park. Their limestone fortresses - each one the work of a colony of countless tiny animals - come in an amazing variety of shapes and sizes, from the convoluted brain coral to corals that look like horns.

Turtles, shrimp, sponge, eels, sea urchin lurk among the corals and huge schools of fish create a brilliance of colours that are unknown, unseen and unimaginable. Here you can see dolphins and octopuses.

Dugong, a marine mammal, which resembles a seal and the rare Boralia species are found in these protected areas. The park has dense mangrove growth, which provides scores of birds with nesting and roosting sites.