Resisting in the driest desert on the planet
The Atacama Wilderness is the driest playground on the earth.
And probably the most inhospitable.
However salt lagoons dot the barren park and they’ve given year.
Laguna Chaxa lies within the salt residences, 7,500 ft above sea degree.
Its crystal waters replicate the horizon, the endless park of salt rocks. The rows of volcanoes that sequence the Andes mountains to the East.
On this lagoon, two species thrive. Brine shrimp and flamingos. The small shrimp multiply briefly, feeding at the phytoplankton full of beta carotene, like carrots. The flamingos feed at the shrimp, which colours their feathers purple.
Rising the flamingo’s people tree is more difficult.
Elevating an egg below the incessant solar isn’t simple.
Like penguins within the freezing extremes, the flamingos right here lay only one egg a while.
And there’s a combat to peer which predator gets to it first. The foxes, which creep ill off the hillsides, or the warmth of the solar, which is able to cook dinner it if left to the weather.
So the flamingos have discovered to evolve.
They form bowl-shaped nests of dust and earth within the shallow waters of the pool.
The salty waters secure the foxes away, and funky the egg, in spite of the new solar.
The newborn flamingo grows within the half-submerged egg.
However even after the oldsters secure keep tabs on.
If the egg is simply too scorching, they fan it with their wings or prohibit the solar’s rays with their our bodies, shading it.
They’ve just one younger a while. It will have to depend.
“If it dies, the mother, heartbroken, walks into the desert and dies too,” says Ingrid, an Indigenous information from the native Toconao folk that helps to keep protect the pocket.
And after the egg hatches, the white feathered child breaks distant into the salty waters that she and her people have referred to as house for 1000’s of years.
Completely tailored and resisting in some of the cruelest ecosystems on Earth.
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Thank you for listening. I’m your host, Michael Fox.
This tale would possibly appear a tiny out of playground for this podcast. However coming simply days later Earth Generation, I sought after to focus on this simply implausible lifelong resistance from animals and ecosystems throughout us, to evolve and conserve on as very best one can. I actually like this one. Additionally… April 26 is Flamingo Generation. So satisfied Flamingo Generation. Vision them in motion in those extremely harsh climates of Chile and Peru, I’ve unutilized discovered admire for those bulky purple birds. They’re NOT simply Florida garden decor.
That is episode 24 of Tales of Resistance—a podcast co-produced through The Actual Information and International Change. Isolated investigative journalism, supported through International Change’s Human Rights in Motion program. Every hour, we’ll deliver you tales of resistance like this. Inspiration for dim occasions.
Should you like what you listen, please subscribe, like, percentage, remark, or loose a evaluate. You’ll additionally apply my reporting and help at patreon.com/mfox.
There you’ll additionally take a look at some unique photos of the flamingos at Laguna Chaxa, taken each alone and my daughter. I’ll upload hyperlinks within the display notes.
Goodbye nearest era.
The Atacama Wilderness is the driest playground on the earth, and probably the most inhospitable. However salt lagoons dot the barren park, and flamingos are considered one of a variety of species that experience tailored to reside on this harsh climate, and are scuffling with to continue to exist.
That is episode 24 of Tales of Resistance—a podcast co-produced through The Real News and Global Exchange. Isolated investigative journalism, supported through International Change’s Human Rights in Motion program. Every hour, we’ll deliver you tales of resistance like this. Inspiration for dim occasions.
This hour, we proclaim Earth Generation, April 22. April 26 could also be Flamingo Generation. So, Glad Flamingo Generation!
You’ll see unique photos of the flamingos of the Atacama wasteland, in Michael Fox’s Patreon web page. You’ll additionally apply Michael’s reporting and help at patreon.com/mfox.
Should you like what you listen, please subscribe, like, percentage, remark, or loose a evaluate.
Written and produced through Michael Fox.