Presented by the Gujarat Ecological Society, the 2025 Hasmukh Shah Memorial Award recognised a decade of field research and conservation on the waterbirds of the Gulf of Mannar, work that has helped bring several wetlands under protected status.

The first confirmed breeding of the Brown Noddy anywhere in southeastern India, recorded on Sandbar VII of Adam's Bridge, alongside breeding colonies of five tern species, among the largest mixed breeding colonies in the southern peninsula.

The sandbars sit on the Indian Maritime Boundary Line between Rameswaram and Sri Lanka, surveyed by field teams between June and August.

A pelagic seabird of the Southern Ocean, the Light-mantled Albatross was recorded for the first time anywhere in Asia at Rameswaram Island, an extraordinary distance from its normal range.

The Crab Plover, a distinctive black-and-white wader that breeds in burrows, was documented breeding at Point Calimere, extending its known breeding range from the Arabian Peninsula to Indian shores.

The Hanuman Plover, a taxon recently recognised as distinct, was documented breeding along the southeastern coast, among the first such confirmations for the Gulf of Mannar region.