12 divers, including two students, participate in initiative

In a unique homage to the fishermen who lost their lives to the fury of Cyclone Ockhi, a team of scuba divers held an underwater prayer session at Kovalam here on Sunday.

As many as 12 divers representing Friends of Marine Life (FML), a local NGO, and Bond Ocean Safari, an underwater adventure sports group, participated in the initiative.

A pressnote quoting FML coordinator Robert Panipilla and director of Bond Ocean Safari Jackson Peter said the divers had prayed for the families of the victims to find the strength to bear the ordeal.

While the official death toll is 65, scores of fishermen from the coastal villages in Thiruvananthapuram who went missing in sea are yet to be traced. The divers read the all-religion prayer printed on laminated water proof cards.

Underwater survey

Two students from the Fisheries Vocational Higher Secondary School here were also part of the group. The two groups had earlier conducted an underwater survey which revealed the extensive damage caused by Cyclone Ockhi in the near shore areas of the seabed off the coast of Thiruvananthapuram.

Video images and still pictures released by the team showed extensive damage to the biodiversity- rich marine ecosystem in the region. The team had also come up with photographic evidence of the shoreline changes caused by the storm.