Uca Tangeri

Otherwise known as a fiddler crab. 

Last year, an almost two metre high metal sculpture of one of these appeared on the roundabout to Ilha de Faro, so we knew they were here. Today, when we drove across the bridge over the Formosa estuary, we saw the tide was really low, so went out immediately for a walk and saw the mud absolutely heaving with these creatures, all vigorously waving their huge claws, which is a courtship display. The larger the claw, the larger the hole, therefore better for incubating the eggs, and the more vigorous the waving, the healthier the male, also good for choosing.

We saw a guy clamber up on the bridge, so went to talk to him, and he proudly showed us the bag of claws he'd broken off the crabs, apparently a delicacy. He assured us the claws grow back and no harm is done, but research confirms our hunch, that, though it doesn't kill the crab, it does hugely interfere in reproduction, as females don't recognize a male without his huge appendage, and they don't always grow back.

He also said you need a license to harvest them, and I'm guessing measures have been taken to protect the crabs, as they were in danger of extinction, but looked like healthy numbers today. He also said how important they are for aerating the mud, so guessing that acquiring the license involves learning about their importance.

Gratefuls:
- safe flight from Birmingham to Faro
- that we can stay here the night and adjust to being back, before tackling our lack of electricity on the Land
- that our car, left on the Ilha, is OK