The focus of the Marine Science Group has been the understanding of waves, currents and sediment transport and their effects on beaches and nearshore including modelling of coastal processes of the west coast of India. The activities include setting up of high-resolution numerical models capable of simulating coastal ocean dynamics and boundary exchanges, establishing video based Coastal Monitoring network and investigating on evolution of Alleppey Terrace and its impact on shelf economic mineral deposits.

The national network project on Submarine Groundwater Discharge, to quantify the amount of fresh groundwater discharge to Bay of Bengal as well as to Arabian Sea through coastal aquifers, also forms a major activity under this subtheme of NCESS. The program on SGD is implemented by NCESS with the participation of twelve agencies in the country using different methods of remote sensing, hydrogeological, hydrochemical, isotopic and modelling techniques.