Ten animals and habitats of the Kenyan coast. Some you can eat, some you must never touch, and the difference matters.
Dolphin Pomboo · say it: pom-BOH-oh
Tursiops aduncus · Indo-Pacific bottlenose
A dolphin is not a fish. It is a mammal, like you — it breathes air, is born alive, and drinks its mother's milk.
Three true things
- Dolphins find food using sound. They click, listen to the echo, and build a picture of what is ahead — even in dark water.
- Each dolphin has its own whistle, a bit like a name, and others use it to call that individual.
- Only half a dolphin's brain sleeps at a time. The other half keeps it swimming and breathing.
Where you find it here: Pods live around Wasini Island and the Kisite–Mpunguti park, close to Shimoni.
Looking after it: Protected in Kenya. We never catch or sell dolphins, and nor does any responsible fisherman.
Sea Turtle Kasa · say it: KAH-sah
Chelonia mydas · green turtle
A reptile that spends almost its whole life at sea, and comes ashore only to lay eggs in the sand.
Three true things
- A female returns to lay her eggs on the same beach where she herself hatched, sometimes decades later.
- The temperature of the sand decides whether the hatchlings are male or female — warmer sand makes more females.
- Green turtles graze seagrass, which keeps the meadow growing like a mown lawn.
Where you find it here: Green and hawksbill turtles nest on Kenyan beaches, including the south coast near Shimoni.
Looking after it: All sea turtles are protected in Kenya. Catching, selling or eating them is illegal. If you find a nest, tell a ranger or a Beach Management Unit.
Coral Reef Matumbawe · say it: mah-toom-BAH-weh
Scleractinia · stony corals
Coral looks like a rock and is actually thousands of tiny animals living together, each one a bit like a miniature sea anemone.
Three true things
- Corals have algae living inside them. The algae make food from sunlight and share it — which is why coral needs clear, shallow water.
- When water gets too hot the coral pushes the algae out and turns white. That is called bleaching, and the coral is starving, not dead — yet.
- A reef the size of a classroom can shelter more kinds of animal than a whole field on land.
Where you find it here: Fringing reefs run along most of the Kenyan coast, with protected reef inside Kisite–Mpunguti.
Looking after it: Never stand on coral, and never take a piece home. It grows about as fast as your fingernails — a piece the size of your hand took years.
Crab Kaa · say it: KAH-ah
Scylla serrata · mangrove mud crab
A crab wears its skeleton on the outside. To grow, it must climb out of its old shell entirely and grow a new one.
Three true things
- A crab that has just moulted is completely soft and hides until the new shell hardens.
- Crabs can regrow a lost claw over several moults.
- Mud crabs live among mangrove roots and are strong enough to crack a shell with one claw.
Where you find it here: Mangrove creeks along the Kwale coast, including around Shimoni and Vanga.
Looking after it: Small crabs and females carrying eggs should always go back. That is how there are crabs next year.
Spiny Lobster Kamba Mkubwa · say it: KAHM-bah m-KOO-bwah
Panulirus spp.
An Indian Ocean lobster has no big front claws — it defends itself with long spiny antennae and a powerful tail flick.
Three true things
- Lobsters sometimes walk across the seabed in long single-file queues, each touching the one in front.
- They can shoot backwards fast by snapping the tail underneath them.
- A lobster tastes and smells with its legs and antennae.
Where you find it here: Reef holes and ledges around Shimoni and Wasini.
Looking after it: Kenya sets a minimum size and closed seasons for lobster. Undersized lobsters must go back.
Seahorse Farasi wa Bahari · say it: fah-RAH-see wah bah-HAH-ree
Hippocampus kuda
A seahorse is a fish, even though it does not look like one. It swims upright and very slowly.
Three true things
- It is the father who becomes pregnant. The female places her eggs in his pouch and he carries them until they hatch.
- A seahorse has no stomach, so it must eat almost constantly.
- Each eye moves separately, so it can watch for food and for danger at the same time.
Where you find it here: Seagrass beds and sheltered shallow water along the coast.
Looking after it: Seahorses are traded internationally and are protected under CITES rules. They are never something to collect.
Ray Taa · say it: TAH-ah
Himantura, Mobula and others
A ray is a flat relative of the shark, with a skeleton of cartilage rather than bone.
Three true things
- Rays 'fly' through water by flapping their wide fins like wings.
- Many rest buried in sand with only their eyes showing.
- Manta rays are the biggest rays and eat nothing but plankton, filtering it as they swim.
Where you find it here: Sandy flats, seagrass and open water along the coast.
Looking after it: Manta and devil rays are protected. A stingray's barb is for defence, not attack — shuffle your feet in shallow sand and they simply move away.
Starfish Nyota ya Bahari · say it: n-YOH-tah yah bah-HAH-ree
Asteroidea
A sea star is not a fish at all. It has no brain and no blood, and moves on hundreds of tiny tube feet.
Three true things
- Many sea stars can regrow a whole arm, and a few can regrow an entire body from one arm.
- Some push their stomach out through their mouth to digest food outside their body.
- They 'see' with simple light-sensing eyespots on the tip of each arm.
Where you find it here: Reef flats, rock pools and seagrass.
Looking after it: Taking a sea star out of water to photograph it can kill it. Look, then leave it where it was.
Mangrove Forest Mikoko · say it: mee-KOH-koh
Rhizophora mucronata and others
Trees that grow with their roots in salt water, standing on arching roots like stilts.
Three true things
- Mangroves filter salt out of seawater — some push it out through their leaves, which taste salty.
- Baby fish and prawns shelter among the roots where big predators cannot follow.
- Mangrove forests store more carbon per hectare than most forests on land.
Where you find it here: Creeks and sheltered shores along the Kwale coast.
Looking after it: Mangroves are cut for timber and charcoal. Beekeeping in mangrove forest gives people a reason to keep the trees standing — that is where our mangrove honey comes from.
Seagrass Meadow Nyasi za Bahari · say it: n-YAH-see zah bah-HAH-ree
Thalassia, Cymodocea and others
Not seaweed — real flowering plants, with roots and seeds, growing underwater in meadows.
Three true things
- Seagrass makes oxygen, exactly like grass on land.
- It is the main food of green turtles and dugongs.
- Its roots hold the sand down, which stops beaches washing away in storms.
Where you find it here: Shallow sandy areas between the beach and the reef, all along this coast.
Looking after it: Seagrass is damaged by anchors and by boats running aground. It is one of the least noticed and most valuable habitats we have.
