July 10 - Head down to the ferry dock for our seahorse tour. The two-hour excursion for the three of us is $120, seems a bit steep but will be worth it if we see them.
A bit about the lagoon. It is a complex system of bays and estuaries, sheltered from the open ocean by three sandy islands. In the shallows, which vary considerably in size depending on the tide, oysters are grown. It is the largest such source in Portugal, and maintains a larger output then all of France. Hence, that is the primary destination of exported Olhão oysters.
The fishing industry here is much larger than that, however. Octopus, clams, cuttlefish, and different species of oceangoing fish are also harvested.
We anchor at a place offshore of the western side of Ihla de Culatra and wade around in waist deep water. There are some patches of sea grasses, but most of the shallows are sandy. Here, the tour guide/boat captain finds our first seahorses. They are the long-snouted seahorses (Hippocampus guttulatus). We put out hands under them and they sort of just hang there, sometimes curling their tails around our fingers. The guide says it is best to look in spots where there are sea cucumbers.
While snorkeling around nearby, I see a relative of the seahorse, the longsnout pipefish. It is dark colored and streamlined in shape. It moves quickly, unlike the seahorses. This area, and the nearby Ihla de Baretta and PN da Ria Formosa are preserves specifically set aside for these animals.
After a visit to look at the boats in Culatra, we head back to the main ferry dock. Learn that the island town of Culatra was founded after the 1755 earthquake, as a retreat for many shellshocked citizens who had lost their homes and didn’t want to face the endless rubble of their ruined city.
In the afternoon we do some walking around town. There is a walking route that passes by various sculptures, each representing a local folk tale.
Across the street from this church, at the Municipal Museum, I learn a bit about the dictatorship of Portugal that lasted from 1933 to 1974. Called the Estado Novo, it sought to draw upon heavily conservative Catholic beliefs and a return to a time when Portugal was the center of a vast colonial empire. Much overall economic growth was achieved during these years, but at a great social cost. Many petty rules governed daily life, including mandates on what careers women could hold, bans on public displays of affection, widespread censorship of the press, and routine torturing of suspected communists, socialists, and other people with opposing political views. This era ended in 1974 when leftist members of the military, along with many regular citizens, rose up in what became known as the Carnation Revolution. One of the immediate effects was the liberation of all overseas colonies, the largest of which were in Africa (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Cape Verde).