The wrecks of Morro Peixe.

North of the island of Sao Tome, a few miles from the village of Morro Peixe, lies the immense beach of Micolo.
Kilometers of fine sand, clear waters, quiet and still full of fish. A little paradise.

In recent years this place was gradually transformed into a boat cemetery.
Several carcasses trawlers, Gabon and santomans, came to run aground off and onto the Micolo beach.

For the casual visitor, the vision is not without charm.

Under the stormy and gloomy sky of the little equatorial island, what more romantic than a shipwreck, evocative of travel, adventures and marine tragedies?

The traveler admires, dreams a moment, takes some pictures and goes.
And the local population retakes possession of the place, playground for children, a source of livelihood for adults.

And everything is fine.

Not so sure.

One of these wrecks was ripped open, apparently voluntarily. Huge steel plates were cut in its flanks, giving access to the obscure open bites of the hold.
At high tide and during storms, by these openings, which the bottom is flush with the sand of the beach, the ocean gets inside the ship, then leaves, loaded with part of the waste therein.

Not very engaging, these wastes.
Impossible, without analysis, to get an idea of their exact nature.
But their color and appearance both flaky and fibrous suggests, at best fiberglass, at worst remnants of sprayed asbestos.

In both cases, possibility of a significant risk to the health of people.