Beach Ghost

Beach Ghost Muscat, Oman

Muscat, Oman

Beach Ghost

Another day at the beach

The weather here in Oman has now changed. I had been told by many that hiking ends at the beginning of April because it gets too hot. Now I understand. I often tried to go out and hike in a nearby wadi but could not find anyone to join me. Everyone says it’s too hot, and it’s not the kind of thing I’d do alone. With that being said, I then gravitate to the beach.

The days tend to be around 97 to103 degrees, but not too humid yet. I understand it will eventually get very humid. So for now, walking in the water at the beach is what I do a few times a week. If I was in the US on a beach, I’d wear my swimsuit, a thin cover up, and a hat…and of course sunscreen. While in Oman, I am being respectful to the Muslims here, so stay a little more covered. Since the weather has become sooo hot, I do wear a little less while walking in the water, but as soon as I return onto the shore, I will make sure my knees and elbows are covered. I tend to roll up my pants above my knees and wear a T-shirt with my shoulders covered…always a hat.

Visiting the beach around 10:00-10:30am and staying for a few hours is my normal schedule. I have my small backpack my friend Terri gave last year from L.L.Beans. Perfect because it’s light weight and has a place for a water bottle, which I can grab at any moment. There’s also enough room to store my shoes, shirt, sunscreen, a small towel and a snack (usually nuts). My camera is always with me with extra batteries, just in case. Since the weather has changed, there are just about NO people on the beach. I’m alone. Which is kind of nice, but I do miss the entertainment.

Lately, I have found myself enthralled with these certain crabs. They are called Ghost Crabs, one of the 1,800 different crab specimens in Oman. While walking on the beach I noticed these small little sand pile hills, somewhat symmetrical in size and shape, about 2 feet from this symmetrical hole in the sand. There were a number of them in one location… I was curious. I figured it was a crab creating these forms and holes. So I sat down a distance away and just waited and watched. Sure enough, one by one I’d see these crabs peek out of their holes looking around to make sure it was safe to come out. They did not notice me in the distance. They would disappear down into the hole and come up, look around, then skedaddle 2 feet out up this little triangular hill, dump a load of sand on the top of the hill, then back to the hole. They do this over and over again. Sometimes one crab might scurry to a different hole to observe what the other one is doing and go on to start a new hole. I was trying to figure out the purpose. Stewart said they are making a place to be safe when people and predators are around. They remind me of chipmunks in Maine. I can only imagine what the tunnels must look like underground.

A few weeks later, I was walking in the water and kept thinking to myself, “I’m the only one on the beach as far as I can see.” Well, it was 102 degrees out at the time. But walking in the water (which isn’t cool) and with a breeze off the ocean, I’m fine… not uncomfortable. I actually stopped and took a photo I was so amazed how alone I was. I walked a little further down the beach and turned around heading back towards home when I noticed these 2 little black eyes poking out over the small waves. As I grabbed my camera, I noticed more black eyes and then more. I was tickled with the fact I was not alone and these Ghost Crabs did not notice me. I stood still, did not move other than my hands to manipulate the camera. What a wonderful photo opportunity that was for me. I stood in the water for 20 to 30 minutes videoing and shooting lots of photos. What a hoot. They are very entertaining.

I noticed one crab only had one eye. I kept my eyes on it and suddenly another eye popped up. Their eyes go sideways, down under their shell, and then can pop back up. Quite unusual. I had been told there was only one amphibian that can move only one eye at a time and that was a rare toad. Well the crab is in a different family. You’ll see the photos of this. The videos were hard to do because it was a bit windy that day, and with a telephoto lens, the camera moved a little more than I would have liked.
VIDEO

Last week I was back on the beach. It was 100 degrees that day and I had no expectations about what I might encounter. As I reached the shore I noticed 2 small wooden fishing boats and then saw this long strand of fishing net. It covered about a 1/3 of a mile all along the edge of the water, and in the distance I could see a lot of men working with the nets. I had never seen this here at this beach. Of course I grabbed my camera. I first started taking photos of the fishing nets. But then I heard the sound of trucks and lots of screaming and yelling back and forth. I decided I’d go up to where the action was.

There were some tourists around taking photos and I went right up to the fishermen and asked if they minded if I took photos. They gave me permission. Now I’m standing right beside the fishermen photographing. The tourists saw what I did and they followed behind me. I did say to them to always ask permission to take photos.

The fishermen were bringing in their nets along with lots of fish. As the nets were lying on the sand, people were removing fish that were caught up in the net’s holes. The trucks where driving up to the water’s edge and someone would connect the net to the truck. The truck would then back up until the net was completely out of the water. Those in the water would yell at the man driving the truck and the man in the truck would yell back at them. This went on until they were down to the end of the net.

Now this is when it gets exciting and is very stressful to these fishermen. There were around 8 men in a circle holding onto the net. They’d created a pool—the net being the sides of the pool. Inside the net was the catch of the day. There were sting rays, leopard sharks, barracuda, tuna, and I don’t know what all. The truck is backed up as close as they can get with a cooler in the back. They have a smaller net that 3 men are manipulating to get some of the fish into so they can transport them into the coolers. This took some time because the fish were not too happy. The fishermen were contentious about keeping the fish covered in water.

I was amazed how this one man grabbed the tails of the sting rays and threw them onto the beach. It was kind of sad to watch. The sting ray was on its back and was struggling to flip over and get back into the water. The fishermen are too busy with the catch to bother with them.

I’d say to get the fish into the coolers took around 20 minutes. The truck drove away, probably going to the market. The rest of the fishermen were re-grouping. The only man who had on a dishdasha was sitting on the beach with his head down, he looked exhausted. He was the largest of the men and seemed to be the hardest worker. I was standing right next to him. I kneeled down and said how hard a worker he was. He did not understand English, but smiled. I asked if I could take a photo by pointing to my camera and then to him. He said, “Yes”. I stood around a bit longer then walked up the beach.

When I came back to the fishermen they were rolling up the rope into a coil and carefully bringing the net back onto the boat one section at a time. I asked how often do they do this? Twice a day. They leave the nets out for 4 to 6 hours I was told. I then walked back to the Omani in the dishdasha and said to him, “You are a strong man and work hard.” I used my arm to show a muscle and pointed to the muscle and then to him. He understood and laughed and said, “Yes, me strong.” I stood around and took many more photos of him. He does work hard. You can tell by the photos that he does. And remember, it’s 100+ degrees out.

I thought I was done with this entry and then went to the beach to watch the sun set. I heard the sound of trucks engines going on and on, and looked out onto the water where I saw 2 fishing boats. They were bringing in fishing nets and once again yelling at one another. I said to myself, “They’re back.” I hurried along the beach and when I was close enough, I could see that these men were not the same people as before, but their actions bringing in the nets were the same. I was excited thinking “great sunset photo opportunity”. I grabbed my camera and focused and then realized I did not have my memory card in the camera. OOPS!

I did have my phone which takes terrible photos, but I went ahead and captured the event at sunset. The fish they were bringing in were small, without any other species in the nets…not sure how that comes to be and no one there could speak English to answer the question.

Great sunset. Lately the sunsets have been pretty special. There are many people at the beach at this time of day—families having picnics, people playing in the water, and soccer games going on up and down the beach. Some people come just to watch the sunset and are very peaceful.

In Florida I have noticed people gravitate to the beach to watch the sun set. And most often there is a bar or two on the beach to have a cocktail, and a live band playing. When the sun sets, everyone hoots and hollers and claps their hands.

I have less than three weeks left here in Oman and will attempt to go as often as possible to watch the sunset.