Shark Dreams

We went to the beach last weekend, in Inhambane province, about seven hours from Maputo.  The beach, called Tofo, is known for its white sands and clear water...  and it is just that.  The water is so clear that you can be up to your neck and look down and see your toes!  Nalia and I went on a whale shark ocean safari on the first day.  Whale sharks are really sharks, but they are totally harmless.  They can be up to 25 ft. long, and there are only 1,000 in the whole world-- 300 of them are found in the waters off the coast of Mozambique. 
We didn't end up seeing any whale sharks, but saw lots of dolphins playing in the water near our boat.  We also got to travel for a quite awhile with a beautiful aqua green sea turtle next to our boat... it was as big as our kitchen table.
Fortunately these animals were alive.  On the second day, we saw fishermen bringing in their catches as usual, though one had something so large it wouldn't fit in the boat.  It was a gigantic manta ray.  When we went to see it, it was still alive, but on its last leg.  It was turned upside down, so we could see its beautiful white underbelly, smooth as silk.  When the fishermen began to butcher it they turned it over revealing a striking leopard print, same color as the sand it swam over.  The kids watched intently as the fishermen went to work.  They said they were going to eat the ray.  They were going to use its tail (stinger) as a whip.
An hour later, they brought in a hammerhead shark.  I couldn't bear to watch them cut it up.  But when I went into the water after the fishermen were gone, the only thing left were the two hammers, blue as the sky.  I didn't know sharks were so colorful.   Elio didn't watch what happened to the shark, but all of this affected him.
He woke up that night with a horrible nightmare, insisting there was a shark on top of his mosquito net... he's such a sensitive guy, and cries when when prune the acacia trees on our street in Maputo.  Nalia convinced him that there was no shark on top of his mosquito net because sharks need water to live.  Seeing the ray and hearing about the shark had just been too much, and really, he's right, it is too much.  It shouldn't be happening, but with the influx of Chinese in Mozambique, the demand for shark fins and meat has gone through the roof.  Also, the fishermen are poor and really do eat rays and sharks. 
There is a foundation, Marine Mega Fauna Foundation, that has been set up to protect sharks and rays in Mozambique.  Please visit their website at http://www.marinemegafauna.org/ and you can adopt your own shark or ray. 
Our camera broke on the first day we were at the beach, so I don't have many photos...