Day 1: Heading back to Mozambique

Day 70. Goodbye Guinjata

Going to miss sitting on the porch watching the humpbacks breach. Half an hour till the boys drive us to the airport!

Day 69. Last dive

Beatiful last dive at a shallow site called Egypt, just off Paindane beach. Saw a manta, bull ray, blue spotted stingray, general electric ray and two horn bill turtles!! Also did my part and picked up some rubbish (: turned out to make a lovely handbag!

Day 68 A Day in the Life: Guinjata Bay Mozambique

A short video by Andrew Maloney of me breathhold diving and a whale shark! 

http://vimeo.com/m/106118907

Day 66. Whale Sharks

On our way back from a morning dive on Manta Reef we came across two whale sharks! The larger one was approximately 13m long. These gentle giants let us swim with them for about an hour. Truly the best morning of my life (:

Thanks Guinjata Dive Centre Mozambique for this wonderful experience!!! Footage to follow

    Swimming with the slightly smaller                    whale shark,Guinjata Bay.

        Photo credit: Stephen Hemstalk 

     Swimming with a 13m whale shark! 

       Photo credit: Stephen Hemstalk

      Diving down to the whale shark

          Photo credit: Jack Austin 

Day 62

Our research is drawing to a close and we have started to compile the data. Amoung other finds one of the more worrying is that of the devil rays caught over the last 2months in the Guinjata area 71% have been female and of that 83% have been pregnant. More stats to follow.
On a happier note I unexpectably met a nurse shark in a cave on my dive yesterday and swam with a giant manta (5m wing span) on my dive this morning.  
(Footage to follow)

Day 56

Me lying next to a Silky Shark. I'm about 6 foot so you can see how big some of these sharks are! This catch consisted of a small zebra shark, two large silky shark (3m and larger) and a reef shark.

Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Day 50.

Since 21st August 46 sharks have been caught on longlines in a 10km stretch of water (from Coconut Bay to Paindane). This includes illegal catches such as the Great White brought up at coconut on the 29th August and numerous endangered species.

                      Juvenile zebra shark

      Large bull shark

Local fisherman finning a silky shark

Day 47.

After a morning dive with Guinjata Dive Centre at Manta Reef (one of the top 10 dive sites in the world) I was so happy. I had seen a black tip reef shark and it was the first live shark I had seen in a long while. Feeling content we began the 20 minute boat ride home. As we started to drive past coconut bay we noticed a lot of commotion on the beach. We drew closer and my heart fell. Sharks. We beached the boat and walked up the beach. There were 11 dead sharks, caught by long lines that morning. The boat had only just landed (10:40am). We had none of our equipment with us only cameras so we took photos and videos of all the species and notes down sex and estimated size. 

      Black tip reef shark aprox 2.8m 

         Photo credit: Monica Phung

        Zoë sexing a juvenile Tiger Shark

         Photo credit: Monica Phung

         Two Scalloped Hammerheads

           Photo credit: Monica Phung

Three sharks were also caught at Paindane at 11:00am. Altogether 14 sharks were caught on 15km stretch of beach in one day. 

Day 46. Tiger Shark on Paindane

Chess and I had a quiet start to our day on Paindane with only one small goat fish being brought up on a kayak. We got a phone call that morning saying that a local dive boat had spotted sharks being brought up on a longline just off Paindane so we stayed and waited for a few hours.
At 12:05 we saw the boat coming in. There was something massive being towed by it. All I could see was a large grey fin cutting through the breakers. It was a Tiger Shark, it was huge (nearly 3.5m long) and it was still very much alive. As the breakers crashed onto the beach the men who had untied the massive creature from the boat dodged the jaws. More sharks were onboard. Altogether there was a Tiger Shark, a Hammerhead, a Guitar Fish and a large reef shark.
All four were again dragged through the swallows to the dunes where the dissecting had taken place only a few days before. The Tiger Shark was too heavy to be pulled up the beach by 10 men and finally its tow rope snapped. It was still alive as the fishermen started to cut it's underside open. It's huge liver spilled out onto the sand. The liver was about 2m long. Sharks use their oil filled liver for buoyancy, unlike fish, who have gas filled bladders. In some sharks the liver can account for 25% of its body weight. With the liver removed and taken away for consumption the shark was light enough to be dragged up the sand dune to the valley. It's huge body still moved and the shark trashed for about 20 minutes even as it was being cut up. Narrowly missing a fishermen's leg the creatures huge jaws open and snapped closed. Finally, a machete was driven through its spinal cord and the movement stopped.

Fishermen drag live Tiger Shark out of breakers
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Live Tiger shark
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Live Tiger Shark
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Men pull live Tiger Shark from shallows
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Reef Shark
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Guitar Fish
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Juvenile hammerhead
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch 

Fishermen pull reef shark up dune
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Day 44. Illegal turtle catch

It was a bright and breezy morning and the sun was at our backs as Chloe and I began our walk to Paindane (approximately 5km from our home at Guinjata Bay). About 20 minutes into the walk we saw a large object being pulled through the breakers a few hundred metre away. We quickened our pace and soon met two men, Chloe recognised one as a fishermen. We asked him what was in the net he gave us a word in Betongo the local dialect. He looked nervous as we followed him and his friend and he began to explain that what they had caught was very illegal but they couldn't help what swam into their net. 

As we drew nearer to the net we finally understood. We could see a huge turtle tangled up inside. It was only when we reach the creature that we realised it was still alive. In a dazed state of adrenaline we helped the fishermen pull the net up out of the breakers. We expected them to cut this creature out as soon as it was safe to do so. A small group of men, women and children quickly assembled to try and detangle the net before any other observers could see. We began to tell the fishermen from early that he must cut the live turtle free quickly before it died. He was nervously reluctant and mumbled something about untangling the net first. As the net was unraveled we saw its other victims, two more turtles, one alive, and a dead devil ray. The live turtles we gasping and contouring their necks and fins against the harsh strain of the net. Trying to pull the wire from the throat of the nearest gasping turtle we looked into it's terrified eyes. The compassion you feel for such a majestic creature in such a horrific scenario is something I cannot yet put into words. 

We were still both under the impression that the live turtles would be released.  I could not tell you how long we were stood there trying to shield the eyes of this dying animal from the harsh sandy wind that blew over us. After sometime the first live turtle was dragged out but we were preoccupied with the other victim and did not see as they dragged the free created away over the sand and up the dune. When we saw what was happening Chloe asked why was it not being put back into the sea? We were mocked and taunted by the children present who thought it was amusing. The man from earlier gave us a sheepish look and told us that they had to show their catch to the authorities first but you could see even he couldn't make this lie convincing. 

This was the saddest thing I have ever witnessed. 

Men rush to untangle their illegal catch.
Photo credit: Chloe Bentley 

First live turtle with net tangled around it's belly and throat.
Photo credit: Chloe Bentley

Fishermen wary of our presence as they struggle to untangle the net.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch   

Chloe uses our clipboard to try and shelter the dying animals eyes from
sandy wind.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Second live turtle with 1m ruler for reference.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch 

Dead turtle with metre ruler for reference.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Day 43. Paindane Shark Attack

Paindane Bay is about 5km walk from Guinjata and a popular tourist destination. As Chess and I arrived there this morning and set up our towels, ready for a day of monitoring the fishes caught on the beach, we did not anticipate what we were about to see. Usually this beach is fairly quiet with a few small vessels and kayaks going out and bringing in small fish and the occasional octopus.
At 9:40am a small motorboat beached with about 8 fishermen onboard. People began running over and as one man ran past he turned and shouted to us, "Shark!"
We grabbed our bags and ran. By the time we reached the boat there was a large crowd of tourists, divers and locals observing. We peered through and saw shark after shark being pulled out of the small vessel. Altogether there were: 3 Scalloped hammerheads, 2 Guitar Fish (a very rare species), 1 Sandbar shark. They were all dead and they had all been caught on a longline. All these species are illegal to catch. The crowd began to melt away, back to their normal lives and sun tanning but we followed the fishermen with their sharks. The sharks were dragged through the shallows for about 400m until we came to a break in the sand dune.
The six sharks were dragged up the beach to this valley. It was here that we began to measure and record our data. We measure total length-from nose to tip of tail; fork length- nose to fork of tail; pre caudal length- nose to base of tail and width, we also collected vertebrae to age these creatures.

The six sharks being towed to the dunes.
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) female 164cm
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyma lewini) 262cm. Stomach projected
through mouth during times of high stress.
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyma lewini) 257cm. With two huge bites taken
out of the upper body and underside, presumably by another shark.
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Guitar fish (Rhinobatidea- family) 264cm.
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Head of guitar fish
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Pregnant guitar fish
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Embryo sac of guitar fish
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Embryo sac of guitar fish
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Measuring the hammer heads.
Photo credit: Francesca Trotman

Sharks being finned with machetes
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Finned sharks.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Fins and meat being carried to the near by village.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Observing.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Old man carries crate of meat to near by village.
Photo credit: Philippa Fitch

Day 40.

A gloomy cloudy morning at Guinjata. At around 7:30 two fishermen swam out to the gill net. The wind has picked up in the last few days and the breakwater is very choppy. After about 30minutes we see the two men wading out of the breakers with the gill net wrapped around two large objects. Six other men run over to help haul the net up the beach another takes a "cuda" (queen mackerel over 1m long) from the swimmer. As we draw closer we see the wing tips of a ray. "Another two devil rays!" one of the more friendly fishermen tells me. He is enthusiastic, it has been a good week for them, I force a smile of agreement as they untangle to two beautiful rays. We must keep our composure and remember that these men are doing their job even if what they bring up in their nets is sometimes very endangered. Losing our temper will actually be unproductive and cause hostility. The net is 60m long so it takes some time for the men to untangle. The first ray comes out and is hurled to one side for us to measure and weigh. It is about 80cm from nose to base of tail with 116m wing span and weighing 20kg. It is also pregnant.

We move onto the next ray and immediately see that it too is pregnant. Rays can have very long gestation periods, from a few months to more than 2 years. Often the baby is fully developed in the womb but still unborn so that it can be born quickly and healthily if the mother is under stress. The fact that these two babies had not been born in the net suggests that they were not mature enough. 

Day 39

7:30am Another four devil rays brought up in the till net off Guinjata Bay all were pregnant females over 1m wing span and weighing around 22kg.

We are currently researching whether they move in group when pregnant and if the current, in the area that the net is placed, provides something for these pregnant rays.

The afternoon was spent diving in the Inhambane estuary. There were many juvenile fish such as frog fish, pipe fish and many seahorses!

 

Day 38

Four devil rays brought up in the gill net at Guinjata around 7:45am.

All were female and two were pregnant. 

Washed up whale

At about 14:30 we got a call saying that something had washed up at Coconut Bay. We drove the old red landrover along the 7km stretch of beach. From afar the object looked like a small whale but as we drove nearer we could see that it was just bones. Closer inspection showed that it was the tail and a few ribs of a much larger whale. As the sperm whale from last week was carried off by the high spring tide only a few days before we assumed it was part of this. Before being carried away by the tide the sperm whale's stomach exploded due to a build up of gas inside the rotting body. Luckily we live far enough away that we didn't whiteness that or smell the aftermath.

Piling into the landrover to explore the beach whale

Object from afar looked like a small whale.

Tail, vertebrae and a few rib bones most probably from the
 sperm whale beach a week before. (7m)

off roading selfie