This does not happen, but it has: an elephant has decided it would like to go for a few waves and has been spotted surfing the beach breaks in Nuarro bay, just off the coast of northern Mozambique. Elephants don’t go into the sea, period, so this is definitely a rare sighting.
The bay of Nuarro is located on the Baixo do Pinda Peninsula in the Memba District of Nampula Province.
According to the source, the elephant is a male, in good condition and very playful, having spent a long time chilling in the warm waters.
Trienke Lodewijk, Nuarro eco-lodge manager has the story:
It’s very special to see an elephant swimming in the Indian Ocean (and drinking salty sea water), we had no idea there were elephants around here…we don’t really know how this elephant came to our lodge, it looks like it swam from Memba, and probably came from the north of our district close by the Lurio waterfalls, but that would be impossible.
“Hey bru, has anybody got a 9″6 for me?”
Africa Geographic’s Science Editor, Tim Jackson, confirmed this is indeed an highly unusual natural wonder:
Wow! There are legends of elephants bathing off Mozambique’s beaches, but to see one is a rare sighting indeed. The only place I know where elephants sometimes venture onto the beaches is in Gabon’s Loango National Park in west-central Africa, and that’s a long way away from here.
Today Trienke confirmed that the elephant has now wandered back into the bush, and that it be could from a family of three who she’s discovered are living in the Nuarro peninsula:
Local people are not allowed to burn land or farm anymore so the bush is coming back. And that’s good news also for this elephant.
At present, the Nuarro Eco Lodge has about a 700 hectare concession, and conservation in the area has helped increase animal populations dramatically.
With any luck, more elephants will start surfing.
[Source: AfricaGeographic]
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