Saddest Day in August

Squidy in the past Photo: Megafauna Association

Squidy in the present. What will be the future for those amazing creatures? Photo: Androniki Pouris, ACCM-Zavora Lab.

A manta, nicknamed Squidy, estimated to have lived off the shores of Mozambique for at least 10 years, with 4 recorded sightings, was killed at Zavora Beach by local fisherman earlier this week. This manta was originally spotted in 2003 by Megafauna Association in Tofo, and seen alive for the last time in 2007 in Tofo. Its sighting in Zavora was the last one and unfortunately while she was brutally cut when she was still alive.

The manta appears to have been caught in a fishing net; it is unknown whether or not this was intentional. It was then pulled up onto the beach, where it was set upon by 15-20 fishermen armed with machetes. The manta was violently slaughtered and then distributed to the locals bartering for its meat in the stirring red waters.

As part of a group of marine researchers interested in conservation, it is difficult to watch the effects of humanity on one of the very creatures that we strive to study and save. Mantas have a very slow reproductive rate, having only one offspring every two to three years. This slow rate of repopulation makes the spread of knowledge about them vital. With more education, it might be possible to protect them and see that they are released from fishermen's nets in the future.