Tale of the Tides: The Hyaena and the Mudskipper (1998)

In Africa there is a fable that explains the creation of the tides. When a hyaena challenged a mudskipper to a drinking contest to decide who should own the shore, the god Mungu tilted the earth so the sea flowed inland, and neither could win. In this way he created the tides - so that all the animals could visit to feed, but none might stay very long. The film follows the fortunes of a cast of animals that use the shore, over a cycle of the tides. It is set on the remote storm beaches and in the mangrove forests of northern Kenya. As the tide falls, a hyaena feeds on a shark and tussles with a porcupine, a caracal hunts monkeys and an octopus strands itself to catch crabs. Crabs are the currency, and from giant monitor lizards, predatory grouper, crab plovers and jumping fish - everybody eats them. As the tide comes in, giant whale sharks enter the mangroves to feed, moray eels fight with octopus, and predatory snappers and squid hunt in the drowned forest. The fable explains that in return for their place on the shore, crabs must pay a price - and in the climax, a storm wrecks millions of swimming crabs. They are a sacrifice to Mungu. and a feast for all the other animals.