"August 2007. OPERATION TASK CANINE SEARCH REPORT... (snip)... The following searches were conducted: (snip) ... Western beach Praia da Luz ... (snip)"
No video or photos of this dog search have been released.
Does "western beach" mean the little beach on the west side of the fort?
This is the closest beach to the sighting which Mr Amaral thinks is important.
Shining do you know anything about the history of the big rectangular drain here?
It looks much older than the modern round drains.
First of all, on searches, despite being familiar with both the terrain in Luz and fairly familiar with the searches in and around Luz, I have come to the conclusion that I have little idea about what was searched of how it was searched, at more or less every point in time (SY search excluded).
The Mark Warner search was supposedly 'structured', though the mechanics are flimsy and if you can tell me exactly which areas were searched that night, I would be grateful for your enlightenment, as I think this is important.
If it was a 'missing child' procedure, I doubt it was designed to remove tin covers to see if anyone was underneath. That would have been a 'dead child concealed' search.
Whether the little beach near Smithman was searched that night or in Aug 2007, I know not. From the Fortaleza/Bull heading west, there is the little beach, then possibly miles of rocky shore before the cliffs kick in.
As to the drain on the little beach. To be perfectly truthful, I have no certainty of its history.
The Ocean Club is 'modern' (from the era of tourist holidays by air), whilst Luz had/has a lot of older buildings that clearly predate this. Many of these are around the locality of the Smithman sighting. A number of houses on Rua Calheta are 'new', but many are 'cottages' that predate the Ocean Club. Ditto Rua Direita and Rua 25 de Abril have fair numbers of buildings going back to when Luz was just a fishing village.
So, we have water from Rua Direita, Rua 25 de Abril and Rua Calheta, the old village, that needs to be dumped somewhere.
I suspect that all the rainwater drains that empty into the sea pre-date the Ocean Club.
The one on the little beach happens to be at one of the lowest road levels in Luz. It is the one with the shortest distance from the roads to the sea. I'd guess it is either equal oldest or actually wins the oldie prize.
But that is an interpretation of the data, rather than a knowledge of historical fact.
Note to Mods. Yes - off topic. But please don't delete. Snip and start a new thread if you think we are too far off.