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.
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.
As I climb out thinking how well worth the 40-minute, Dh290 experience is, a Napoleon Wrasse gives me a wink.
Flamingoes
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| Flamingoes at Ras Al Khor in Dubai |
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.
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| Black winged stilt |
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
Tracking wildlife
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| 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.
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| 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.
