City Nature Challenge 2026: Andhra, Telangana record surge

On a bright morning last weekend, a group of 15 enthusiasts moved quietly along the rocky stretches of Tenneti Park in Visakhapatnam, accompanied by members of the East Coast Conservation Team. Children as young as six and participants well into their sixties bent over tidepools, lifting stones with care and pausing at every flicker of movement.

Sea urchins clung to rock crevices, hermit crabs retreated into borrowed shells, blennies darted between shadows, while anemones, limpets and the occasional sea star revealed the secret life along the shore. Each sighting was photographed and uploaded onto iNaturalist, turning a morning walk into a shared exercise in documenting Nature.