BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

August 2020 BBC Wildlife 95

I

’dalwaysconsidered

morayeelsfaintly

ridiculous.Sure,those

gapingjawsandbeady

eyesareunnervingatfirst

glance.Butaftera few

underwaterencounters,a

morayguardingitspatch

ofcorallookslesslikea

threateningdisplay,more

likeanawkwardgrin.

I wasona nightdiveintheRedSea,

whenmyscubabuddygesturedwithhis

torchbeamtogetmyattention.Thereon

thereefwasa giantmorayrippingintothe

coral,scatteringdebrisacrosstheseabed.

It seemedtobelookingforsomethingbut

wecouldn’tworkoutwhat.

Aftera briefdiscussionemployinga

combinationofrecognisedscubahand

signalsanda fewmadeuponthespot,we

continuedonourway,keentoseemoreof

thereefbeforeourairranout.Whenwe

arrivedbackatthatspot 20 minuteslater,it

wasclearthatleavinghadbeena mistake.

Whilewehadbeenamusingourselves

lookingatseaslugs,harlequinshrimpand

sleepingpufferfish,themorayhadfound

whatit waslookingfor.Clampedintheeel’s

jawswasanenormousoctopus.

Wemayhavemissedthemomentof

capture (I’m still kicking myself to this day)

butthisfightwasn’tover.

Themoray– aslongasI am

tall,witha bodythegirthof

mythigh– strainedtokeep

holdoftheoctopus,aseight

musculartentacleswrapped

tightlyarounditshead

andneck.Thecombatants

writhedontheseabeduntil

thewaterarounduswas

densewithswirlingsand.

Wewerecloseenoughtoreachoutand

touchtheseanimals.I wasworriedthat

mybuddymightinadvertentlydojust

that,ashestrovetocapturethemoment.

Anunderwatercameraflashlightsallthe

tinyfloatingparticles,sogettinga clean

shotdependsonbeingcloseenoughto

minimisetheamountofdetritusinthe

way.Fortunately,theduellingduoremained

oblivioustothepaparazzointheirmidst.

Theoctopusheldoutfora longtime

but,intheend,it wasnomatchforits

opponent’spowerfuljaws.Astheeelswam

awaytofinda quietplacetoeat.I pledgedto

neveragainunderestimatea moray.They

mayhaveawkwardgrins,butthatdoesn’t

stop them from having the last laugh.

Clashofthe titans

TA L ES F R O M T H E B US H

Duringanightdive,itwasn’tjustalackoflightthatalmost

causedJo Cairdto miss a dramatic ght for survival.

Downonthefarm

MarkCarwardineis rightto

celebratea post-Brexitscheme

topayfarmerswhopreserve

habitatforwildlife(Myway

ofthinking,May2020).

However,a firmcommitment

toenforcementandmonitoring

willberequiredif thepolicyis

tosucceed.

Withourembattledfarmers

underincreasingpressure

fromclimatechangeand

anuncertainmarket(notto

mentionprobabletradetariffs

withEurope),thetemptationto

breachthetermsmayprove too

strongforsome.

Sooftentheevidence

showsthatwhenfundingis

tight,governmentsupportfor

environmentalcausesfallsbythe

wayside.WhileI shareMark’s

delightat thisground-breaking

idea,I hopethatministerswill

upholdtheirpledgestoensure

itslong-termsuccess.

Rob Buxton, via email

If MarkCarwardineis

suggestingthattheCommon

AgriculturalPolicy(CAP)is one

ofthemainreasonswehave

lostsomuchwildlifeacross

Britain,thenI amafraidheis

drasticallyover-simplifying.

Unlikehim,perhaps,I am

oldenoughtohavea clear

memoryofBritishagricultural

landbeforewejoinedthe

EEC.InnortheastFife,inthe

1950sand’60s,theintensive

fieldsofsugarbeetdidnot

harbourwildflowers,numerous

butterfliesorgreatflocksof

smallbirds.Britishfarmershad

takentochemicalweedkillers

andpesticideswithenthusiasm

wellbeforethis.‘Silentspring’

wasalmostasrelevanttoBritain

astotheUSA.

I nowseemorefieldsred

withpoppiesintheSouthof

FrancethanI didinFifeback

then.IntheCerdagnelastyear,

wesawthemostbeautiful

meadows– despitedecadesof

themuch-malignedCAP.

Robin Noble, via email

OURWILD WORLD

JOCAIRDisa freelancejournalist

basedinLondon.Readmore of her

work at jocaird.com

QUIZANSWERS(see p90)

1C, 2A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 6B

Thereonthe

reefwasa

giantmoray

eel,scattering

debrisacross

the seabed.

S

T

Havea wild

taletotell?Emaila

briefsynopsisto

sarah.mcpherson@

immediate.co.uk

Steve Pretty