Sharing...

That's what the Internet is about, isn't it?

So here are some fantastic photos by Andrew Brown, who was in Bilene over the festive season, have a look at them on his blog

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Mantis Shrimps

Funny thing about perception. When you don't expect something, you often don't see it. For me, one of the interests of diving is to discover creatures I didn't know before. I often poke into holes, turn over rocks to see what's crawling under them and generally become a nuisance to crawly critters under water...

A while back, I noticed a creature I hadn't seen before. It inhabited a perfectly round hole on the crumbly bottom at the foot of the cliff at the mouth of the lagoon. The hole was so perfectly round that I suspected the animal had carved it. It was about three to five centimeters diameter, and the animal occupied the opening completely. As I approached, it retreated inside the hole, but soon came back. Good. I like curious animals, they're fun to play with...

It took me quite a while to identify what I'd seen on the snorkeling outing that day, especially since the only part of that critter I'd seen was a pair of eyes, and the front of the head, or rather what I thought were eyes and head.

After much browsing of "Two Oceans", the excellent book by George and Margo Branch, and some searches on the Internet, I finally settled on a Mantis Shrimp.

The article on Wikipedia about Mantis Shimps, in particular, is very informative for a neophyte like me. A short extract about their eyesight might convince you to pay more attention to these creatures: 

The eyes of mantis shrimp may enable them to recognize different types of coral, prey species (which are often transparent or semi-transparent), or predators, such as barracuda, which have shimmering scales. Alternatively, the manner in which mantis shrimp hunt (very rapid movements of the claws) may require very accurate ranging information, which would require accurate depth perception.

The fact that those with the most advanced vision also are the species with the most colourful bodies suggests the evolution of colour vision has taken the same direction as the peacock's tail.

I have since visited the Mantis Shrimp very regularly at the mouth, Despite searching quite thoroughly, I haven't found another specimen. I have managed to coax it half-way out of its burrow, but not fully out. It has very interesting black and yellow patterns on its carapace and body, but I could not get a good picture because both my hands were occupied trying to make it come out of its hole.

Then, on a dive, I spotted a more colourful one:

Since then, I've been able to spot more and more on the dives.

The fact that they seem to stay in the same place most of the time makes it easy to find them again and again.

One more reason to dive in Bilene...

Dive safely, don't hold your breath!

Daniel                       :-)

<Added a few days later>... a video of one of the encounters. 

I think this is a Lysiosquillina maculata, the zebra mantis shrimp or striped mantis shrimp (see Wikipedia)

A lot more photos on my G+ albums.
A very interesting article in Practical Fishkeeping.

Exciting fun!

Big first in Southern Africa!

This week we received the first Flyboard in Mozambique.

After some delays due to bureaucratic hassles, Tor finally arrived in Bilene yesterday. We were both so impatient to try the board that we skipped breakfast. A cup of coffee and one of Earl Grey later, we were both on the beach, battling with pipes and fittings. Everything was delivered in kit form, and we had to figure out how to connect the assembly to the jet ski.
Although this is typical rocket propulsion material, the assembly itself is not actual rocket science  ;-) so we finally got in the water, and I was the first guinea pig. Getting the boots on was a struggle. They are supposed to adjust to all feet sizes but being new it was a tight fit.
Lying with feet strapped on the board, and hands clenghed on the controls, with no possibility of swimming, I was a bit anxious at first. When Tor put a bit of power on the engine, I struggled to figure out how to contort myself to get the jet in the right direction so I would head out to deeper waters, pulling the jet ski behind me.
The short time it took to get there gave me an opportunity to get familiar with the board, the feeling of the jet under my feet and the action of my arms.
Those that have visited Bilene know how far the shallow beach extends, at last we got to the channel in the center of the lagoon, and Tor started applying power. The first couple of attempt ended hilariously with me slipping sideways, falling ungracefully in the water, but then I found my balance, and was soon in the air.
The feeling is indescribable.
There was still much more laughter in store, as there are many ways to fall, some quite spectacular. I was winded a few times, falling from quite a height, but it's only water.
The other thrill in store was the dive, and flying under water felt actually easier than in the air. First of all, there is none of the fear of falling, and the drag on the body means it's possible to control the trajectory by just bending one way or the other. And emerging out of the water to leap forward, catch a breath and dive down again, like a dolphin, is the main reason why I want to get proficient with the Flyboard.
After one day, I'm far from being as graceful as these beautiful animals, but I have high hopes that all it requires is just a little more practice...

Speak to you soon, don't hold your breath!

--- Added a few days later ---

Well, it seems getting on the board is not that hard really. Most people that have tried manage to get flying within a fairly short time. Of course, we were put to shame by youngsters that grew up with roller-boards, wake boards and I'm sure surfers would easily top our meager performance, but that  does in no way diminish the thrill I feel when I'm flying a few meters above the water...

More photos here...

--- Added even later ---

I finally managed to upload the video during a visit to South Africa (thumbs down to TDM, providers of expensive crappy connections to the Internet in Mozambique) and the whole world can now watch it:

Fame at last!

Well, not really Fame as in reporters and paparazzi crowding every street in Bilene to get interviews with us, but a South African magazine recently featured Dive Bilene in one of their article. It's a fairly recent magazine, and of course I bought the current issue that has the article about Bilene in it: http://doitnow.co.za/content/diving-bilene-lesser-known-mozambican-diving-destination
I really like that mag, first of all because it features a lot of the sports and activities I do or have done in the past, and second because there seems to be a wide variety of writers and great photographs.

So do yourself a favor and get it if you don't already have it.

For those, like me, who are not in South Africa, there's a digital edition you can download.

Lagoon dives

Diving has been very good lately. When we go outside the bay, we almost always see whales, and hear their song from the moment our ears are underwater and we've calmed enough to actually listen.
I don't know if there are more species, but I have positively identified Southern Right and Humpback whales last week, and quite a few are accompanied by calves.

For divers that have not been in the water for a long while and need to get back underwater gradually, and for divers that are enthusiastic about our artificial reef program, we organize lagoon dives.

I really like lagoon dives. First of all, there is the feeling of "being home". You might live in a nice area, be able to hike in a beautiful forest, but taking a short walk in your backyard does not take away from that beauty. Simply, what's in your backyard is different, and intimately known to you. You probably planted what's there to begin with, and looking at the birds visiting your bird-feeder from the comfort of your armchair is a different activity than going for a hike in the forest.

There are three spots in the lagoon where we go regularly, Legoland, The Graveyard and the Mouth.

We mostly go to the last one, the Mouth, for snorkeling sessions.
On the way, we often spot a flock of Flamingos.

The area covers the base of the rocky cliff, actually not "real" rocks, but ancient coral deposits, a length of about hundred by twenty meters, with barely more than three meters depth.
As you can see, it's well within the reach of beginner snorkelers.

The area is teeming with life. I have spotted Lion Fishes as small as a centimeter in length, among more mature ones of close to twenty centimeters.

There are also numerous eels, juvenile and mature.

Of course, it's not all about fish, there are also many crustaceans (Cleaner Shrimps, Hermit crabs), gastropods (Cowrie Shells, Nudibranch, Sea-Cucumber, Shaggy Sea-Hare) and of course all the flora.

A short distance away, we can observe Sea-horses, 

Pipefish and Razor Fish

Closer to the Water Sport Center, we have Legoland. So called because it consists of elements built with concrete blocs, used like one would use Lego blocks to build a playground.

The lagoon bottom is mostly flat sand, so any asperity will offer a refuge to fish and other creature from the fishermen, whose nets don't discriminate between edible and non-edible species, small or big individuals.

In my mind, the presence of so much fish life in the immediate proximity shows the artificial reef is beneficial to the fish population.

It's not uncommon to have a school of Kingfish circle around us on the way down.

At the bottom, we see quite a few resident Orangespotted Rockcod

Butterflyfish, Snappers, Parrotfish and many others I still haven't been able to identify.

The Graveyard is a different experience. Although the initial motivation in the construction of the reef was to provide a solid surface to which sea creatures would attach, the opportunity for having fun was too strong to resist. The shape of the concrete slabs evolved to resemble tombstones, and that's how the name of the reef was found. For a modest fee (about R100), you can inscribe your own tombstone (mother-in-law's names are popular, and so are the names of competing companies) and sink it yourself.

The rockcods like to hang at the foot of the tombstone.

The reef currently covers an area of over forty meters diameter, with dozens and dozens of tombstones. We also added a few "fish-houses" built with concrete blocks of the same model as Legoland. I have observed clouds of larvae in these fish-houses develop to juvenile fish.

This reef is a favorite destination for night dives, adding to the spookiness of the experience...

So when the tide table doesn't allow us to go out of the mouth, diving inside the lagoon can be an enriching experience.

Stay tuned for more diving news, don't hold your breath,

Daniel     ;-)

Looking for Marine Scientists...

After many discussions with local people and visitors, I've come to the conclusion that the best course of action to improve the survival chances of the seahorses in the area is to get the specie we have here (Hippocampus Camelopardalis) on the CITES list of endangered species.
The way to do that is to have a study published by scientists that shows the decrease in population.
So I'm appealing all that read this blog and their friends, who would like to come to Bilene to study the seahorse population?

This is a job that would be most appealing to someone doing honors, a masters or a phD thesis. Speak around you, let's make things happen...

Swimming and diving with Whales!

It's been a long time since I posted an update. There are two reasons for my scarce writing. The first is that TDM (Telecomunicações de Moçambique) cannot deliver a decent Internet service. At least to me. Maybe they don't like French people. Or maybe they're picking on me for no reason. They claim to be the leaders in telecommunications, and to satisfy clients. It must be me.
The second reason is that I've been hectically busy organizing everything for the groups visiting us, exploring new venues, trying new adventures...
Life is tough in Afrika!

One of the new adventures is Whales Expeditions. We depart from the beach, launch through the mouth as usual, but instead of going to a specific spot, we cruise in the 20-30m depth range while looking for whales. When we spot them, we go in their general direction until we're about 500m away from them. Then we drop a line in the deep blue, dive to 10-15m and wait.

At first, there isn't much to see, just the blue emptiness around. After a while though, you start paying attention to a lot of small stuff drifting past. Nature dislikes the void. The sea is actually full of plancton, larvae and other creatures, some over twenty centimeters long.

Sure enough, after a while, big stuff comes to check out what's going on. Only once have we seen nothing much. Every other time, we've had big sharks (Bronze Whalers, Bronzies) or whales (Southern Right and Humpback) come to check us out.

This is not for the beginner diver. Hanging at the end of the line, sometimes not seeing the surface or the bottom, and nothing on either side, makes for eerie feelings. The wait can be a little unnerving. From time to time, there are jellyfish-like creatures floating past, their iridescent colours flickering along their body. However, the thrill when big fish or whales come out of the gloom to check us is just indescribable.

Then, as we were climbing back on the boat, our non-divers colleagues told us there were up to six whales on the surface at one time. We didn't actually make it back on the boat: a whale with a calf swam past and enticed us back to swim on the surface with them.

What an experience!

Stay tuned for more diving news, don't hold your breath,

Daniel     ;-)