Since ancient period, humans depend on coastal areas for their livelihood. Therefore, coastal monitoring process is necessary to detect contaminations. In the present investigation, distribution of bacteria including pathogens in water and sediments of different coastal habitats (mangrove, coral, seagrass and beach) of the Havelock Island, the Andamans, India, was studied. From nine stations, the study has found 47 total heterotrophic bacterial strains, belonging to 13 genera (Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Aeromonas, Enterococcus, corynebacterium, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus and Shigella). The genus Escherichia, was dominant with 21%, followed by Pseudomonas (13%) and Vibrio (13%). THB population density varied in water samples from 43 X105 CFU/ml to 182 X105 CFU/ml and in the sediment samples, it varied from 79 X105 CFU/mg to 259 X104CFU/mg. This study is significant as it would pave way for future workers to elucidate the importance of coastal sanitation, for keeping the environment clean.
