#tofo skin

[yummiyummi]

Yuba !

[suspicious-whumping-egg]

Hey blue, could you tell me about whale sharks? :]

-LT

WHALE SHARKKSSSSSSS

Whale sharks (scientific name Rhincodon Typus) are the largest fish in the sea (specifically females)! The longest whale shark recorded is 61.5 feet long, and the heaviest about 47,000 pounds, or 23.5 tons! Their mouths can be around 4-5 feet wide. They also have the thickest skin of any animal, with various sources estimating it to be anywhere between 4-11 inches thick! Their spot patterns are unique like fingerprints and can be used for identification.

Whale sharks are gentle, slow swimming (up to 3 mph) filter feeders that swim around, open their mouth, suction in water like a vacuum, and eat the little organisms that end up inside! These include plankton, krill, and squid! They have tiny little teeth on the inside of their mouth so when the water floods in, the organisms are trapped in the mouth, and then the water goes back out their gills. They have very small throats so they can only eat small organisms, and as such, they pose no threat to humans.

Like many types of sharks, whale sharks are covered in teeth-like scales called dermal denticles that reduce drag while swimming. However, unlike most sharks, whale sharks have these denticles ON THEIR EYES! It is thought to be that this is a method of protecting the eye, and whale sharks can also retract their eyes between 1/2 inch and 1 inch into their skulls to protect them.

Another fun fact is that no one has ever seen a whale shark give birth!! However, it is known that whale sharks are ovivipariois, meaning the pups (baby whale sharks) hatch from eggs while still inside the mother and then the mother gives birth to live young. A pregnant whale shark was caught and the number of embryos inside her were counted at around 300, so it’s estimated they give birth to about 300 pups at a time. Unfortunately, whale shark pups do have predators including other shark species and orcas, even though adult whale sharks are mainly only threatened by humans, and the survival rate of a whale shark pup to adulthood about one in ten.

Human threat is of high concern to whale sharks, as they are an endangered species. Habitat loss due to overfishing and pollution, illegal poaching and selling of whale shark fins, oil, and meat, entanglement in nets and other debris, boat strikes, and unsustainable tourism all pose threats to these remarkable creatures. However, sustainable ecotourism provides a valuable incentive to keep these animals thriving and their environments intact.

Whale sharks are highly migratory animals that prefer deep trenches of water next to a shallower shelf, as nutrients rise into the shallow water and then they can dive to feed on plankton, krill, squid, etc before coming up to warm back up in the shallow area. Prime coastal feeding spots (at certain times in the season) include Ningaloo Reef in Australia, Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and Isla Holbox in Mexico, Mafia Island in Tanzania, Utila in Honduras, Donsol Bay in the Philippines, the Galápagos Islands, Tofo Beach in Mozambique, and the South Ari Atoll in the Maldives.

For many of these places, ecotourism involving whale shark snorkeling excursions has boosted the area’s economy while providing a powerful incentive for the natural environment to be preserved. However, overcrowding can prove a danger to these beautiful fish, so an ethical whale shark snorkeling trip must: forbid “chumming the waters” or feeding the whale sharks to attract them, limit the number of tourists and boats in the area at a time, only allow snorkeling so the whale shark can safely and quickly swim out of a tourists’ reach if frightened or distressed, and prohibit tourists from touching the whale sharks because touching a whale shark can disrupt the delicate mucous membranes over their skin that help protect them from parasites and bacteria.

I fell in love with whale sharks after seeing them at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, the only aquarium in the West to house whale sharks. These whale sharks came from Taiwan, in the mid/late 2000s, and were transported by a UPS plane in specially built tanks!

Links for if you want to learn more, assist conservation, or just for fun!

World Wildlife Fund: Facts and Conservation (article)

WWF: Adopt a Whale Shark (and receive whale shark stuffie!)

Britannica: Whale Sharks

Georgia Aquarium: Whale Shark Facts (article)

How the Whale Sharks got from Taiwan to Atlanta (video)

One Minute Whale Shark Informational Video

Watch a livestream of the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium!!

One of my whale shark stuffies

Yellow lab kisses a whale shark (my favorite video on the Internet)

Whale Shark Octonauts (it’s literally so cute) and creature report song. (both videos)

[mymola]

Honeycomb morey eel (Gymnothorax favagineus). Despite their appearance, morey eels are not related to snakes, they are actually fish. Morey eels have very small gills, which require them to open and close their mouths frequently to aid in respiration. They are not venomous, but many acquire a toxin in their skin from ingesting algae, making them potentially poisonous to eat. Morey eels are born from eggs. Once they hatch, they float in the open water for about eight months in a larval stage before being able to swim back down to inhabit the reef. We saw this morey eel diving off of Tofo Beach in Mozambique with Liquid Dive Adventures. #travel #funfacts #scuba #scubadiving #diving #underwaterphotography #uw #uwphotography #underwater #scubadive #girlsthatscuba #dive #uwphoto #scubaphoto #diver #scubadivers #marinebiology #underwaterpics #wildlifephotography #wildlife #photooftheday #marinelife #moreyeel#wildlifephotography #mozambique #nature
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2BmTY5hzfO/?igshid=sn9ft6nwbo4v

[demikerkhof]

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Tofo Diaries - 4.11.18: That moment when you dive down, the pressure building, the salt water stroking your cold skin, whales singing in the background, in that moment, when you’re floating in the blue, carried, back and forth by the swell, in that moment I feel free and liberated of every worry or weight I carry around in my terrestrial life. A moment of pure bliss. A moment for letting go. 

Background music by Sigrid Keidel 

[becauseiamnotanelephant]

Nikko

After an incredible sleep, I was feeling totally refreshed and then we got ready to leave Tokyo early after breakfast at the hotel. Graham got the western breakfast of eggs, bacon (we need to be better at saying “no meat”), yogurt, bread, and a large  salad. I opted for the japanese breakfast of cooked fish, rice, tofu and green beans, mushrooms, and what looked like raw egg. The fish and rice were great, the mushrooms ok, the tofu less-so, and I put my foot down at raw egg. We packed up and made a mad dash in a drizzle the 15 minutes to the subway, got our tickets, and on the train to Ueno to get a bullet train to our next destination.

The train and station infrastructure is incredible here and its hard to fathom everything that is going on underground - so many train lines, so many tracks, different train companies, shopping, vending machines galore, and many, many people. We walked through to the JR bullet train entrance after buying some famous tokyo banana cream filled pastries, and then got on the super sleek bullet trains. Clean, spacious, on time, fast, and well signed/explained.

We were on the train for about 40 minutes, zipping through small cities full of white and tan non-descript buildings, and then large sections of flat and super vibrant green fields. Then we transfered to a more local train to get to Nikko. The landscape started to change - mountains in the distance, sections of dense forests, and more farm land. We arrived in Nikko amd proceeded to waste 15 minutes talking with an woman at the information desk about what bus to take to the hotel until we said fuck it, we’ll walk. It was 30 minutes uphill with all our stuff but was totally worth it.

We saw many cool little shops, a monkey doing tricks at the tourist center, a restaurant I had heard about from research I did, a bridge only to be used by the royal family, amazingly clear blue water, great mountains in the background, and zero garbage cans or any trash at all, for that matter. Everything here comes with a ridiculous amount of packaging yet there is no where to put your trash nor does anyone litter. Bizzare.

We finally made it to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and started off on explorations of this place. Out first stop was the Kanmangafuchi abyss, a place I read about on line that was as cool as I had hoped. A small hike by an amazing gorge lined by a few hundred buddas, each with their own crocheted hat and red cloth capes. It was so nice to be outside and walk around in the woods and scramble on some rocks after such a long trip here.

Then we grabbed some lunch - basic bento boxes are actually better here (no surprise, I guess) - the miso soup is better, the rice is better, the tempura is better. Graham got soba noodles with yuba, a tofo skin dish famous from this area, and that was pretty tasty, too.

We stopped at a convenience store, which literally sold anything you could need or want, and then started the tour of the various shrines and temples that are famous in this area.

My knowledge of Japanese culture/history is lacking, coupled with my lack of ability to retain what I read during the sight seeing won’t make for a great blog post, but the fact that these buildings have been sitting outdoors in this damp climate for 400 years is pretty impressive. They are so intricate and painted with amazing detail. Similar to Thailand, you have to take off your shoes to enter, but unlike Thailand temples with their cool concrete floors, here everything is carpeted or on mats.

The settings of these temples surrounded by super tall cedar trees is perfect - its cool, quiet, and kind if does seem like there is a clear connection between life and death. We saw several shogun temples, mausoleums, and shrines, walking through the woods to each one. I think if this was our religion it might be more interesting - lots of different places for prayers and fortunes and religious kitch for sale. 

Shrined-out, we walked around and started on a search of a three star vegetarian restaurant that was recommended by the guide book, Gyo-tei. We walked around for 30 min trying to find it - “hard to find” was an understatement. We finally found it by taking a small hike through the woods and managed in broken japanenglish to make a reservation.

To kill the time, we walked around a bit more on the cool narrow wooded streets until we got to the main street and stopped for some beers and popcorn at a local brewery. Then we climbed back up the hotel to the restaurant where we ended up being the only ones in the whole place. It was totally bizzare. But we had an absolutely incredible 9 course meal with sake - I got the traditional meal, Graham had the vegetarian meal. Really well cooked, perfectly plated, and precisely timed by the older Japanese woman in a kimono who served us each dish. 

The food was worth the splurge although I have no idea how this place has been in business for 42 years if a) no one can find it and b) we were the only ones there on a Saturday night. The highlight was when Graham went to go try to find the bathroom and all of a sudden there was the old Japanese lady shuffling down the hall behind me at warp speed yelling “no” as it looked like he as going to the wrong door.  We also overpaid by 5 cents and she refused to let us leave without getting us change. 

It was a 20 min walk back to the hotel, where we went to enjoy an onsen - a traditional hot tub experience, and then crashed by 10pm.

Photos are saved here.