Fishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At dawn, the fishermen push these boats through the surf, placing a huge fishing net from the shore, so that it forms an inverted ‘U’. Now follows several hours of hard work, when the fishermen, often assisted by their wives, haul the net ashore. Usually, their catch is rather small, and in later years it has been further diminished due to overfishing by trawlers from Kolkata (Calcutta).

The catch is placed in baskets or in carapaces of sea turtles, which the women carry on their head to their homes, situated just above the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The regime of Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (1979-2003) put an end to their way of life by draining the marshes, as a retaliation for the Madan siding with the Americans during the First Gulf War (1990-1991).

This interesting wetland is presented in detail on the pages Travel episodes – Iraq 1973: The hospitable mudir, and Iraq 1973: Dust storm and sheep’s head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My adventures among Ifugao people are related on the page Travel episodes – Philippines 1984: Shamanism among Ifugao tribals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My adventures among fishermen in Lake Bolgoda are related on the page Travel episodes – Sri Lanka 1976: Among alcohol brewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting this artwork, are shown on the page Culture: Tribal art of Taiwan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pearls are formed in both freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, and in oysters of the family Pteriidae, which live in saltwater. Both types of pearls are widely cultivated. The pictures below show cultivation of saltwater oysters in Halong Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This interesting wetland is described on the page Countries and places: Bangweulu – where water meets the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name means ‘eared’ in Latin, which, like the common name double-crested, refers to its twin crests during the breeding season, one on each side of the head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly, it was presumed that the gular sac was a means to store food for several days, but this is not the case. This belief was the cause of a funny limerick, written in 1910 by American poet Dixon Lanier Merritt (1879-1972):

 

 

However, recent DNA research has revealed that the five Old World species (great white, Dalmatian, pink-backed, spot-billed, and Australian) form one lineage, whereas the American white, the brown, and the Peruvian form another. The great white was the first to diverge from the common ancestor, which suggests that pelicans evolved in the Old World and later spread into the Americas.

Traditionally, pelicans were thought to be related to cormorants, darters, gannets, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, but genetic research has shown that they form an order, Pelecaniformes, together with the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), and herons. Hamerkop and a number of heron species are presented elsewhere on this page. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Numerous other gull species are presented on the page Animals – Birds: Gulls, terns and skimmers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family name was applied by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), also known as Carl von Linné, alluding to Greek mythology, where the companions of the warrior Diomedes were transformed into birds. The name albatross is derived from the Arabic al-qadus (‘the diver’), a name applied to pelicans. In Portuguese this word became alcatraz, a name applied to gannets or frigatebirds. According to W. Tickell, in his book Albatrosses (Pica Press, 2000), the modification to albatross may have been influenced by the Latin albus (‘white’), alluding to the mainly white plumage of albatrosses, in contrast to the mainly black plumage of frigatebirds.

The black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophrys) is the most widespread and common member of the family, breeding on 12 island groups in the Southern Seas. In 2005, the population was estimated at 1,220,000 birds. It often strays to the northern hemisphere.

The specific name is derived from the Greek melas (‘black) and ophrys (‘eyebrow’), like the common name referring to the dark feathers around the eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting the great blue heron, are shown on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in the United States and Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1782, the specific name of the snowy egret was applied to this bird by a mistake by Chilean Jesuit priest and naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina (1740-1829), who didn’t realize, that in fact thula was the local Mapuduncun name for the black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus).

 

 

 

 

 

It is often debated among scientists, whether the dimorphic egret is a separate species, or a subspecies of the little egret (above), or of the western reef heron (E. gularis, also called E. schistacea). A review of the complex relationship between these species has been made by Don Turner. (Turner, D.A. 2010. The Egretta garzetta complex in East Africa: A case for one, two or three species. Scopus. Journal of East African Ornithology, Vol. 30)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name means ‘night raven’, from the Greek nyktos (‘night’) and korax (‘raven’), referring to the mainly nocturnal feeding habits of this genus, and their hoarse, raven-like call.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Latin ardea (‘heron’) and -ola, a suffix denoting something diminutive, thus ‘small heron’.

 

Formerly, this bird was shot for meat. In his book A New Account of the East Indies, from 1744, Alexander Hamilton writes the following: “They have also Store of wild Fowl; but who have a Mind to eat them must shoot them. Flamingoes are large and good Meat. The Paddy-bird is also good in their season.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name shearwater was given in allusion to the habit of these birds of flying very low over the water, seemingly ‘shearing’ it with their wing tips.

The generic name is based on the English word puffin. This word and its variants, including poffin and puffing, refers to the cured carcasses of fat nestlings of the shearwater, which were regarded as a delicacy in the old days. The word puffin dates back from at least 1337, but during the 1600s, the term was gradually used for another seabird, the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica). (Source: Jobling, J.A. 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm, London)

 

The unusual name of the yelkouan shearwater is derived from a Turkish word, yelkovan, meaning ‘wind-chaser’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bird has a huge distribution, covering most of sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the south-western tip of the Arabian Peninsula.