Swimming with sharks

The tawny nurse shark stared passively at me through one pale blue eye. Her sensory barbels tickled the cage I was snorkeling in while she searched for food. Surmising that she wouldn’t find it apart from between those bars she moved off to swim with others like her - blacktip, grey reef, bamboo, horned, zebra, swell and wobbegong plus 69 other marine species at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo bang in the middle of Dubai Mall.

We climbed backwards into the four metre deep aluminium cage, finding a resident bunch of barramundi had already taken up a prime safe position away from predators, for transparent acrylic covers the bars on the two four metre-long sides and at the bottom. The cage holds four people at one time plus instructor and offers a fish-eye view of the fascinating underwater world from a completely safe vantage point.

A sand tiger shark slipped silently past on my left while a blotched fantail stingray cruised, slowly flapping its circular-shaped disc beneath my feet. Two unicorn fish with extraordinarily horn-like appendages between their eyes negotiated their way through an open side to brush my ankles, completely ignoring my excited yelps, somewhat muffled through a snorkel .

“Last year 791 people were killed by defective toasters,” states my guide Tata Jemray as we come up for air. And your point is? The point is that we are not food for sharks. Far less people have been killed by sharks than by toasters, yet sharks carry this stigma.

Sharks provide a natural balance but as many as 80 per cent of some shark species have been killed off by man, which is why some species are now protected by law from fining (cutting off the fins for soup and other products) and fishing.

Like a goldfish I watch spectators walk through the tunnel below, snapping away at the shoals goggling at them through the viewing panel which, according to Gordon White, General Manager of Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, holds the Guinness World Record for ‘the single largest acrylic panel’ at 32.88 metres long by 8.3 metres high.
As I climb out thinking how well worth the 40-minute, Dh290 experience is, a Napoleon Wrasse gives me a wink.

Flamingoes

Flamingoes at Ras Al Khor in Dubai 

Just off the Oud Metha Road around 9am and 4pm there is a rosy flush of excitement at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, a tidal estuary with saline lagoons at one end of the Dubai Creek. It's when the supplementary feed truck arrives.

Swathes of pale pink, flashes of deeper pink and white wings flap expectantly around the food handler. Some ungainly greater flamingoes taxi in from further afield. Once the feed hits the water a scrum of pink stick legs, bent in the opposite direction to that of a knee joint, support feathers and long necks that are plunged into the water, the upside-down beaks filtering it furiously and making gentle sucking, chewing and splashing noises. At peak times there are more than 3,000 here.

Black winged stilt

Once replete, calm descends upon the sanctuary again. Although the greater flamingoes (not the brighter pink lesser flamingoes) are the draw cards, some quiet time spent in the basic wooden hide, accessible from the car park via a screened jetty walkway, reveals just how many resident and wintering birds love these nutrient-rich mudflats.

Thousands of birds from Africa, Asia and Europe have used this area to rest and refuel while on their annual migration on the East Asia/ East Africa flyway, long before the sanctuary was established in 1985. Numbers have increased since it was officially declared a protected area in 1998 and now maintained by Dubai Municipality, which cites housing 270 species. About half the flamingoes and birds remain here in the hot summer months.

Tracking wildlife

Gazelle and tracks in the sand

There’s a primeval thrill in following animal tracks in the sand. Maybe it’s because we are supposed to be hunters and gatherers.

Pursue a trail of fresh heart-shaped spoor and the chances of finding an Arabian gazelle grazing at the other end are fairly high. Breathe in the cool morning air that gently brushes the skin awake and listen to the mesmerising stillness. We have forgotten what silence is.

Duane Eksteen is among the field guides at Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa who lead visitors into the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) on nature walks. It is astounding just how much life is out there in the golden dunes. Even ants have footprints. Adapting to its environment is the desert runner ant, which folds itself in such a way as to avoid touching the baking sand beneath.

Desert runner ant

Eksteen points out the tracks of an Arabian gazelle and a spear-horned oryx. He can tell if a francolin or a bustard crossed the road earlier but to see a ‘sand-fish’ in the open - he rates as virtually impossible.

 “It’s like a golden lizard and walks above ground but as soon as it feels threatened it dives into the sand,” he says.All you see is a flick of swirling grains of sand as it burrows away from danger.

Untidy scuffles around a burrow indicates Leptien’s spiny-tailed lizard is either dozing below or has left the building. The DDCR introduced 70 Arabian oryx around 2004 and now houses close on 500. The vulnerable Macqueen’s bustard was also introduced here.

As we do the ghaf tree walk Eksteen seems impressed. “When the Bedouins travelled through the desert they would stop here, pitch their tents and start digging because these amazing drought resistant trees push their roots straight down 30 metres or so, to reach the ground water.”

The shady ghaf forest provides shelter for all creature, from oryx to lesser jerboa, and branches make ideal perches for about 126 visiting and resident bird species.

Under a fire-bush we spot a lone female gazelle resting in the shade. It’s warming up now and time to head back to the resort. And by the end of the day our tracks too will have shifted in the sand.

 Original article:

https://gulfnews.com/gn-focus/special-reports/dubai-summer-surprises/the-big-five-wildlife-experiences-of-dubai-1.1191986

Metallica visit Abu Dhabi

Nervecell with Metallica

When heavies such as Metallica return to perform in Abu Dhabi, it comes as no surprise that fans in the Middle East are giddy with anticipation. As early as February some were even Facebook posting photographs of themselves gripping their recently bought tickets, according to reports heard on the grapevine. Of course they all know the heavy metal band’s music off-by-heart but to hear, feel and see it in the flesh will simply be awe inspiring.

Who knows, the audience reaction from this part of the world may well be why the group is returning to the capital on 19 April this year.
“It’s phenomenal they are returning,” says local musician from Point of View, Royden Mascarenhas. “I have to say I was pretty surprised to hear they were coming back so soon.” The band performed here at the Yas Arena in October 2011, again brought out by this year’s organisers Flash Entertainment.
“I think the reaction here in the Middle East is so completely different to that given out by USA audiences,” says Mascarenhas, who has been to Metallica stage shows in six different US towns including San Francisco and Detroit. 

Royden Mascarenhas holding a Metallica Beach Ball thrown to the audience during Metallica's  Death Magnetic' World Tour. During the song Seek and Destroy, he says “ these huge beach balls would fall from the roof of the arena and a lucky few got to keep the beach ball. I was at a Metallica show in Detroit (at Joe Louis Arena) on Jan 13th, 2009 where Lars (the drummer) kicked one of these balls from the stage and it landed right in my arms.’

“People in the States are used to seeing them, it’s almost like they are at their back door. Here in the UAE, it’s usually a once-in-a-life-time event, so the huge fan base (20,000 people at the last show here) gives out just a beautiful vibe,” he says. “That was one hell of a performance.”
Equally excited at the return of the metal legends to home ground is Barney Ribeiro from Nervecell, one of the first extreme metal bands to emerge from Dubai, who will this time round view the show mingling with the audience. In 2011 his local band was in the incredibly enviable position of being the opening act.
“It’s funny as we had already bought our tickets to see Metallica,” says guitarist Riberio. “Then 10 days later we got the call from Flash to open the show. It was an incredible experience - every rock band’s dream. Of course it seriously boosted our ratings here too.” Widely known among fans of metal for their first album Human Chaos, Nervecell celebrates more than 12 years together.
He believes Metallica doesn’t attract only serious musicians. “It is probably the only band in the entire world that can have a 12-year-old and a 58-year-old dancing to the same tune,” he says. Turn up the sound when Sandman and Nothing Else Matters spools through the iPhone and see who reacts. It’s across the age range, not too surprising for Metallica have been in circulation since the formation of the band in 1981, when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper.
Abu Dhabi-based event organising company Flash Entertainment, part of Abu Dhabi’s government-backed media free zone,Twofour54, has brought to the Middle East bands such as Coldplay and Madonna, so is adept to giving residents the performance of a lifetime.
John Lickrish, Managing Director, Flash Entertainment, says that deciding which artists to bring to Middle Eastern shores depends on how many tickets they can expect to sell and at what price.
“As long as the revenue is higher than the expense, then we will proceed with the show,’” he says on the thinkflash.ae website. “We can probably deliver the highest amount of revenue possible for the artists because we sell tickets through an automated ticketing system, while the partnerships that we have are probably better than anywhere else in the region.”
“People know what to expect and they know that they are not going to be ripped off for their ticket
price,” says Lickrish. In addition, because of the number of events the company does they can negotiate better rates with suppliers. “They work with us because they know they get paid on time, they know they get treated professionally, and they know that they get to work with the best in class. All of those things help us deliver the artist into the region,” he says.