My love of the sea but not of all it's inhabitants

I promise that this post will be about something other than animals, but that's just what we've been surrounded by for the past couple of days soooo waddahyah gonna do.

First off, the Indian Ocean is tragically beautiful.  I used the word "tragically" because in a couple decades it might be brimming with the corpses of all the animals dependent on coral reefs for survival.  Which also means that coral reefs are dying at a staggering rate and there's not much we humans can do about it.  I used the word "beautiful" because it sounded nice next to the word "tragically." Also because you can see several shades of blue from the beach and the view is breathtaking, mind-numbing, and mind-exploding all at the same time.  The site of overdeveloped land to the right, left, and behind you is awe-inspiring, but in a much more insidious way.

The majority of resorts found on Zanzibar are owned by wealthy Italians with eyes for obvious beauty and the decision to exploit it.  I am not being prejudiced or stereotypical here.  And if it seemed like I was, I am definitely not aware of a stereotype of Italian people owning resorts in tropical places.  With development comes displacement and perpetuated poverty, not to mentioned the destruction of key parts of the environment.  Many villages and their inhabitants have been relocated, wilfully or otherwise, to make room for extravagant mini-cities that become the annual residence of people who have absolutely no respect for the  native culture or the courage to be self-critical.  The bikini-clad women waltzing up and down the creamy white beaches of balmy east Zanzibar are blissfully ignorant of their insulting choice in clothing, or lack there of.  Although Zanzibar has been infused with many different walks of life, the predominant culture is derived from Muslim values, one of which is extreme modesty in one's presentation.  Along with the colonial aspect of isolated paradise, these people, who I can safely call Westerners, are simply adding salt to a bandaged but very deep wound.

Along with the coastal resorts, many of the tourism companies of Zanzibar are not locally owned.  However, while Western influence has had an arguably negative effect on the pair of islands, there is one place that, in my eyes, has earned redemption.  The island of Chumbe is quite incredible.  This place has become an internationally recognized ecological preserve and is widely known as having some of the most well-preserved coral reefs in the world.  Chumbe was initially bought by an individual who had surprisingly good intentions.  The first plan was to make Chumbe into an educational facility to spread environmental awareness, but it soon became much more than that.  All of the facility's practical needs are sought after locally, such as boat services, food, personnel, etc.  These are only a couple of ways the island directly impacts the lives of local people in a positive way.  There are many different projects, educational and otherwise, that involve local inhabitants.  There is an annual competition where all the students on the island put together projects that will help their communities live sustainably.  The local fisherman are banned from fishing near certain parts of the island to prevent losses in biodiversity and coral population, but are also educated in ways in which their fishing could be more sustainable.  The islands accommodations, power sources, building design, and waste treatment are all extremely sustainable.  For example, in each of the 7 bungalows there is an internal well where rain water is collected stored.  Rain water drains from the intelligently designed roof into basins filled rocks in order to filter the water.  The internal well is kept in complete darkness to prevent algae from growing.  This water can then be pumped into a solar water heater for warm showers.  The sink also uses water from the internal well.  This water can be stored for very long periods of time.  The island is a very unique place and is one of the few resort-type areas that promote the prosperity of local people.

We also got to snorkel there and it was awesome.

Because of what I have seen underwater and in the lovely pictures found in educational books, I now know where horror and science fiction writers, producers, and directors get their ghastly and grotesque ideas from. One does not need to go to see the latest sci-fi film to be horrified/filled with giddy awe.  Just google sea spider or sea worm and your screen will be filled with what inspired movies such as 'Alien' or 'War of the Worlds.'  The things that quietly dwell beneath the depths of the ocean are truly some of the most terrifying, un-earthly beings I have ever witnessed, including all the fictional monsters and little green men.  The funny thing is that most of the disconcerting animals are not interested in the flesh of human beings and feed on organic matter floating around in the water.  Kind of a backwards reality compared to the emotional response that these things produce in you.  Well, at least in me.  Some people say "Cool!" when I say "Holy shit what the hell is that thing!?" which is followed by a wavering "Oh, it is kind of cool."

We are now staying at the Tamarind Beach Hotel, which is apparently not owned by a wealthy Italian although the neighbouring resorts are, in order to conduct our itertidal research.  The hotel is located near the small village of Uroa on the the eastern side of Zanzibar. The other day I met a man who was renting his home out to vacationers.  He was also building a beach, which is a strange and startling line of work, for the use of the patrons of some resort south of where we are staying.  We have also met a few men who have propositioned the women of our group to be their girlfriends/wives very nonchalantly.  I admire their boldness but not their intentions.  I have made several interesting friends on the island, but that will be saved for future post material.  While staying here, we have conducted several low-tide walks during which we goggle at the various creatures that have been stranded by the receding tide.  Unfortunately, none of them have resembled the nightmarish silhouettes of the things found in books.  That aside, we have seen some pretty fantastic animals.  Today, Leslie told us about meiofauna which are microscopic creatures that live between the granules of sand.  Barnicles have the biggest penis to body size ratio and sea cucumbers eat sand.  The Man-O-War jellyfish is not a jellyfish at all but a giant floating colony of different, specialized organisms.  How is that not at least slightly startling?  Also, at any given moment while you are in the ocean, you will be most likely swimming through the feces, eggs, and sperm of thousands of different animals.

On that note, I'm going to go look at ghost crabs.  I hope the rest of the world is doing moderately well.

-George