A preliminary study on the environmental condition of the coral reef habitat

The present investigation was carried in coral reef areas of Palk Bay, Madapam. Palk Bay corals were found disturbed by human beings due to oil pollution, waste discharge from processing units and discharge of domestic household wastes from the nearby Mandapam town. Environmental conditions of the coral reef habitat in the Palk Bay, Mandapam was analyzed for a period of six months at fortnightly intervals for March to August 2001 on the coral reef areas. Temperature, pH, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) were analyzed at five different stations of Palk Bay, Madapam. The maximum mean values of temperature, pH, DO, BOD and TOC for the four experimental and control stations were 32.6°C, 8.7, 7.02ppm, 8.29ppm and 2.13% and 31.5°C, 8.3, 7.98ppm, 5.71ppm and 0.48% respectively. The sampling stations were selected on the basis of their importance.