Ephemeral Pools of Moab ~ The Nature & Creatures of Water Potholes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ธ.ค. 2023
- Did you know the heavy summer rains in Moab have caused tiny creatures to hatch out on the bare rock literally within seconds of a downpour? How do they survive?
Check out Moab Area Travel Council's new short film on the Ephemeral Pools of Moab: The Nature and Creatures of Water Potholes with retired USGS Biological Research Scientist Tim Graham. The latest video in our Moab Science Series takes a macro look at the survival strategies of tadpole shrimp (AKA triops,) fairy shrimp, clam shrimp and more.
Check out video #2 in the Moab Science Series:
Moab's Biological Soil Crust with Dr. Kristina Young
• Moab's Biocrust
For Moab visitor information, visit www.discovermoab.com/
Produced for Moab Area Travel Council by Finley Holiday Productions
finleyholidayproductions.com/
DM-965
Published 12/22/23
Holy cow, props to the camera man! These animals are NOT easy to film at such magnifications, and I seriously appreciate the effort that went into capturing them.
Thank you. That was the biggest challenge - figuring out how to film them. A lot of hours kneeling on the rock. As you noted, trying to track and manually focus on a fast moving shrimp an 1/8” of an inch long with a depth of field of a 1/4” underwater is tough. And the, being ephemeral added a whole layer of difficulty even finding them in a clear pool.
@finleyholiday The tracking did not slip past me, seriously good job. Did you have to use a specialty lens to get under such a shallow pool of water?
Yes, I used the Laowa 24 mm probe lens. It was the only way to get the angles and be able to see, track and focus. Couldn’t have made this film without it. I rented one first and ruined it by getting it too deep in the water and then bought one, having learned my lesson.
I've got crystal clear pictures ,the water is that clear ,it looks like they are in the air ,some look like little mermaids ,but this in Australia...
@@finleyholidayincredible footage and story. Inspiring for sure!
This video reminds me of the days I used to spend hours watching the national geographic and discovery channels. The cinematography and narration are top notch.
Thank you! That is high praise. I too remember those days. We used to sell the broadcast rights to our national park programs to Discovery Channel back in the 1990s. We would always get a ton of VHS orders whenever they aired.
The same channels show bs these days. I miss those too.
Same, my kid and I like to capture, provide a good habitats for tiny bugs and creatures and observe them. Thinking about making it a channel to inspire others to build closed ecosystems
The first shrimp in the vacuum of space will never know it went to space.
Or in a vacuum
Because it will be too busy exploding, like anyone in near total vacuum
Its not possible to go in to space.
I bet it came back as a Scientologist
Just as well, because no one is going to believe him anyway.
This is truly amazing, all of the micro bioverses of extremophiles separated by what seem like planets at that scale. Beautiful!
Yeah it's absolutely fascinating. Makes me realize that we live among aliens, ancient ones at that.
I agree it's not that impressive when you think about it
A very educational, well written and narrated video. Thank you!
You’re welcome, and thank you. It was one of our most challenging to film of all the videos we’ve done.
@@finleyholiday Maybe that story of difficulty deserves its own video.
@@Don.Challenger Это нужно сделать ОБЯЗАТЕЛЬНО!
Its nice to see someone showing interest in Tim's work. I remember in highschool biology class in Moab Tim would come in and speak about these eco systems.
Tim is awesome! His knowledge indeed comes from observing these pools for over 30 years.
Saw a Fairy Shrimp in a pool at The Cabins in Valley of Fire State Park over 40 years ago as a kid. Never knew what the hell it was until this video! Thank you!
Same thing happened to me at red rock Canyon in Las Vegas. Started my interest in finding out what they were and how to film them. And then I ran into Tim.
@@finleyholiday, The Learn Your Land channel has a video episode about "fairy" shrimp ( the channel is primarily oriented towards learning the trees, fungi and edible plants around you). By the way, on a trip to Acadia Maine we visited the Schoodic peninsula and found that there were potholes in the bedrock along the shore, maybe 100-150 feet from the open Atlantic ocean at most, which had fresh water and tadpoles in them! A gray seal was cruising up-and-down along the shore feeding on schools of fish that it had chased up into the shallows.
I could spend a lifetime on my belly looking at such wonders.
Definitely
I wish this was longer. Absolutely fascinating
Glad you enjoyed it. Tim is such a good teacher and I captured so much interesting footage, we should have made it longer.
Please consider doing so ;) This is indeed absolutely fascinating and very well produced! Would love to see more.
Director's cut when?@@finleyholiday
@@RyanWilson-qy7kb That’s a good idea. Quite a few comments have expressed they wished it were longer. I wonder how TH-cam would handle that?It would be awesome to get recommended again.
@@finleyholiday Yes, another one please. make it an hour long! Good educational stuff!
This really blew me away, I had no idea aquatic life could be so drought resistant in this environment.
An entire food web in a temporary pond.
It really is amazing, isn’t it. That they can survive such extreme conditions, and go even decades without water.
There are desert shrimp in freaking Utah? Wow! I’ve been to Moab three or four times to see the rock formations. Who knew these creatures were there! Wow. Amazing. Thank you
Pretty amazing indeed. And set in the middle of that beautiful landscape makes it that much more amazing.
I wonder if they've always been there, like since it was all underwater, they remained... or did they migrate somehow from another big water source?
These shrimps aren’t actually shrimps, they aren’t even decapods.
@@lirachonyr are they edible?
@@nofurtherwest3474 tadpole shrimp are a delicacy in japan, i don’t know about others
I'd never have guessed the diversity of larger crustacea in these little pools - I always assumed these were species found in similar environments but in different locations or even continents!
It is pretty amazing. And yes, different species are found worldwide in many different environments.
Love your videos man
@@finleyholidayI have seen tadpole shrimp on regular dirt. I was in the west desert of Utah (west of what's now Eagle Mountain). It was about 43 years ago. Someone had dug a large whole in the dirt with what was most likely a backhoe. Presumably rained a had accumulated to around round 6 inches. Tadpole shrimp were swimming around. The wind likely blows their eggs all over the desert . They are just waiting for rain.
When's your next video coming out?
@@joshclayton9789 Should have a new one in January sometime.
Whoa. I live in a place near polar circle, and all those little crustacean guys or their distant relatives appear in local water holes around last 10 days of May and first 10 days of June. Similarity between those and these is mind-blowing.
Well it's sort of the same type of environmental stress--pools that are only inhabitable for a short period of time, with long periods of harsh survival between. Yours just happens to be cold vs. hot. :)
They may well be actual fairy shrimp, there’s various species all over the world, many live in temperate forests
Even in Moab, there is one species of shrimp, that hatches out in summer, and a different species that hatches out in cooler fall and winter temps. The tryouts only like warmer water temperatures, above 70° before they hatch.
there are fairy shrimp in our vernal pools here in michigan too!
At first I thought it was just some small creatures that like to find random puddles . But their entire existence is reliant on the puddles . They even dig underground to wait for their puddle to fill back up again with rain if it dries out. Really cool
And if they get out during a heavy rain, they'll be part of life in other pools and rivers.
You’re really cool.
Seed shrimp, fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp, clam shrimp, boiled shrimp, broiled shrimp, sweet and sour shrimp, shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, barbecued shrimp, baked shrimp, sauteed shrimp, pan friend shrimp, deep fried shrimp, stir-fried shrimp, pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That-that’s about it.
Actually, we also filmed Beavertail Shrimp, but they didn’t make the cut.
Buffalo shrimp
Isn't life wonderful? That was a fantastic introduction to how life persists in such extreme environments. Thanks for sharing it. 🇦🇺
Yes it is! Thank you
I can listen to Tim talk all day about these creatures and the ecosystem.
Absolutely could not have made this video without Tim. There aren’t many people on the planet, that know as much about these ecosystems.
It helps that his voice sounds like Desert Santa - he looks the part, too! I guess he is Desert Santa for all these critters @@finleyholiday
informative, concise, well paced, and with good attention to aesthetics. everyone involved in making this video should be proud.
Большая благодарность автору данного ролика. Прекрасно продуманный сценарий и замечательная режиссура. Получился превосходный учебно-познавательный фильм для молодежи. Для начинающих экологов и гидробиологов это ценно.
Thank you. We were very fortunate to have Tim dedicated to this film. He has been studying these creatures for over 30 years in Moab. We spent over a year filming the macro footage.
@@finleyholiday😊
Glad TH-cam sent this video my way! Very cool 😁
Glad you liked the video! That’s what we thought while we were filming it - very cool!
Amazing video! I love seeing such an unusual, unique ecosystem
It’s so complex, and the more you learn about it the more questions you have. Even after years of filming, I still see new creatures every each season.
Note to self...Don't drink from puddles!
That would’ve been a good question for Tim. I would like to hear his explanation of why you shouldn’t drink the water
Shrimp cocktail yum
A little clear puddle teeming with life is a kid's summer dream!
We have vernal ponds in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan which only last a couple of months at best. Usually they have lots of cyclops and daphnia in them, but if you get lucky you can also find fairy shrimp in them.
Looking at those temporary ponds in Moab, reminds me of one other set of critters that lives in seasonal ponds in Africa and South America and that would be the annual killifishes (Nothobranchius in Africa, and Cynolebias in South America). Their eggs go through a diapause (arrested development) which enables them to re-emerge when the ponds fill back up in the rainy season.
i wonder if annual fishes could reduce mosquito populations
They sure can. And so do mosquito fish which is a live bearer similar to guppies, which have been used for mosquito control in the Southwest. But, then you would be introducing an invasive species to the system.@@drakekoefoed1642
I thought I might have mentioned something about mosquito fish to you which have been used in the SW US for that purpose.@@drakekoefoed1642
We have mosquito fish in North America, as well.
Are you telling me this? Yeah, Gambusia affinis, range from southern Indiana and Illinois to the gulf of Mexico, the Southeast US and the Northern states of mexico. They are related to guppies, but they are not annual Killifish and will die when the temporary ponds dry up.
That was fascinating, holy hell, the speaker! he is such a knowledgeable and nice person, really really loved this video, good work!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a very professional and informative video, had no idea such a dry place could have so much life waiting to by hydrated! Reminds me of the trisolarians from the Three Body Problem
I was thinking the same thing. The husks from the Three Body Problem. I still haven’t read the last book in the trilogy, yet.
@@samsalamander8147 It's so good!! Definitely worth it if you get around to it.
This summer I read "The Secret Knowledge of Water" by Craig Childs, which focuses on this topic. Very interesting read. It's amazing how so many of these life forms can go into cystic form for years - just waiting for water to return to their little pothole.
That is definitely one of the best resources out there on the subject.
@@finleyholidayand this is the best video I've seen on the subject. Your success with the video is well deserved. Keep it up
Similar ephemeral pools exist on granite outcroppings in Fredricksburg TX (Enchanted Rock)..I used to collect insects from them for entomology class...I did my Master's Thesis on Eulimnadia texana...clam shrimp. Thanks for the reminder and detailed presentation!
You’re very cool! Those clam shrimp are very fascinating to watch. They seem to be a favorite target of the diving beetles. I saw several get eaten by them, but it was only able to film two.
Small bodies of water have always fascinated me, I grew up next to a tiny stream in the valley behind my house, not a huge amount of life in it but there was some and I spent days and days down there looking around to see what else was there. I have a special place for little creeks and streams in my heart, people dismiss them but they play a role in the environment regardless. Wish I could visit these little pools, tadpole shrimp are so awesome looking!
It would be fascinating to see what we could film in a small creek.
That was me as a child also, always had a 10p net in my hand poking around under rocks and weed. Learned a lot from it too, water beetles and spiders, 3 spine sticklebacks and bleak. Halcyon days indeed.
As a child, I always used to wonder if we were also living in a virtual pond, of sorts, completely oblivious to giant creatures looking at us with interest.
in theory we probably are due to how vast the universe is.
I’ve heard astrophysicists give a good explanation of why the laws of physics don’t line up with that hypothesis.
You and every other kid
@@theOGabcduong nice bait mate
I've dreams like that. The onlookers were in fact sentient clouds.
Couldn't do anything but watch.
Oh the depths of your knowledge oh my God, how unsearchable they really are!
I could watch one of these small ecosystems for hours. Its just so fascinating...
The more you watch, the more you learn. But having Tim to explain what I was looking at was invaluable.
My wife and I have marveled at the life that wakes up in these amazing pools at toroweap, North Grand Canyon. Thanks-great video!
I’ll have to take my macro to Toro weep after a summer thunderstorm : )
I've seen the fairy shrimp in the pothole of the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma. I'm going to have to look for the other species when it warms up! Nature is amazing!!
Dr. Tim Graham showing off the Paraquanothrus grahami he discovered is such a flex :)
To be fair, we asked him to talk about it. We were so excited to film a creature that’s never been filmed before, and we never would have been able to find or figure out how to film them without Tim. Quite fascinating that you have an invisible bug named after you.
Every word that came out of his mouth was engaging and educational! I didn't want it to stop!
Tim is such a great interview. I could’ve easily made the video 10 minutes longer with all the good information he knows about pothole ecosystems
Dry rocky desert, backed by snow covered mountains! I saw that when in the Moab area in May 2023. What an environment. Loved this video.
Moab is awesome indeed! Glad you likedthe video
2:38 fairy shrimp are cute. The way they break apart the sand clump on their back they remind me of otters.
22 seconds later reminds me of me 😜
Thought the same thing too!
Nature never ceases to amaze.
It reminds me the hours that i would spend watching the tiny living creatures as soon as i would walk outdoors
That’s definitely what we did to film this
Wow I guess life really does find a way huh
Very well spoken and presented mate. Genuinely presented is a rare thing on TH-cam.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Tim is genuine indeed!
Yeh I don’t think there’s much bullshit goin on with Tim Boi, do you know if he has other videos? Thanks for replying
As a Jordanian you bring joy to my heart with this
I’ve never been to Moab Jordan, but I understand that he beautiful place. Moab, Utah is definitely full of natural wonders.
This was amazing. I worked in canyonlands on a project for Tim almost 25 years ago. What a cool memory this brought back.
Glad you enjoyed the video! Tim is the best to work with - a walking encyclopedia of these pools!
Beautiful video of the temporary mini ecosystems,taught me a few new things,thank you for teaching and inspiring others too..
Thank you! I really learned a lot making the video with Tim and observing and filming at least 100 different potholes.
A very well made and informative video. Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
Fascinating. Thank you for opening the window to this little world.
This is by far the most fascinating video I've seen in a while. Amazing!
This is a beautiful production, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I knew about fairy shrimp. But, I had no idea there were other small organisms (let alone, so many) that could go dormant in dry periods, like this.
Yes, it seems like every time I go out to film freshly-filled potholes with my macro I see some other new crustacean or weird thing that I have to go back to Tim to find out what the heck I'm looking at.
These pothole shrimps: "DEHYDRATE!!! One of us survive, all of us survive."
I saw the beauty of what we watched. Thank you.
This video is fantastic. I never gave this topic much thought but have wondered about the desert in general and it's basically the same concept but way weirder and cooler. I didn't realize water bears/Tardigrades lived in potholes.
Water bears live everywhere. They survive space. They can totally chill in a pothole
I remember seeing these shrimp creatures in these temp pools on rocks years ago, always wondered what was going on there.
Where did you see them? Was it in the desert Southwest?
@@finleyholiday Rocky Mountains in Colorado at like 9,000 ft.
Tim Graham is an excellent speaker! Kudos!
Definitely! Knows so much and knows how to dumb it down for us non-scientists.
It's not just the beautiful landscape but the ecology of the area, the more you learn the more interesting life gets.
So true!
I was so surprised to find out that a species of fairy shrimp lives in vernal pools in the woods near me. Never expected to look for tadpoles and find shrimp.
It is amazing how many different ecosystems they have survived in worldwide.
We have big huge rocks like that in the west Australian bush. ,,the crustaceans lie dormant until rain ,ive seen them and have many photos of them in the pools ,it's amazing really because it's a virtual desert during summer and the fact they keep reappearing after rain is like miracle...
It's due to evolution, not a miracle.
@@trinidadscorpion3835 ...captain obvious ,I salute you
dang, we really are lucky to live in sucha naturally beautiful country. thank for giving us an insight into these creatures
So true! Glad you enjoyed the video
That was fantastic. Thank you so much - Fairy Shrimps, just awesome
Wow, I thought fairy shrimp only live in saltwater since I often bought those for my fish, turns out there are also freshwater species. Fascinating, keep up the good work👍
I was pretty wowed when I first saw these in a desert pool
Great video! Very educational. I had read that the brine shrimp in the west originated in the inland sea that existed millions of years ago, and the eggs have been blowing in the wind ever since.
That is the question that everybody seems intrigued about. Where did it all start? How did they get here? Definitely have seen eggs spread locally by wind.
That is fascinating. Adapting to a shifting niche. I guess we all are, in a way?
Research that will change humanity forever. This guys going to change our world.
Thanks man.
Glad you enjoyed the video. Tim really is a unique teacher.
What a beautiful presentation -thanks
Very instructive ! Fun to see how life can stand in such a dry place : at 2:13 you can see some rodent passing dicretly in the background behind the scientist ? A very busy place fill with life despite the desert look like at first though. Great video !
Thank you! That was an antelope ground squirrel that was watching us during the interview
I didn't realize that there were brachiopod dominant ecosystems! I always kind of assumed that they each had their own little pond, I didn't know they were so conspecific. It kind of makes me want to get a tank!
Yes, surprising amount of species in each time I go out I seem to see some new creature we haven’t seen before
Research scientists like Tim have the coolest job
They really do! Tim does some really important work in controlling invasive species in the desert southwest.
One of my favorite areas in the world. The tinajas are incredible windows into life. 👍🏼👍🏼
Amazing aerials, time lapse, and even underwater macro. Great work!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
this is what i imagine most life would look like when the oceans evaporate and the earth would have mostly seasonal water coverage
if the oceans were to evaporate, the earth will be beyond supporting life anymore. all that water has weight. if it evaporates, that means that weight is now air pressure. water vapor is also a greenhouse gas, so the greenhouse effect would get completely out of control and "run away." eventually, earth would be a twin for venus again.
super fascinating! i keep neocaridinia shrimp and love seeing all their little wild cousins
That was very cool. Thank you for uploading.
Thank you, I grew up in the desert Southwest and these pools were great for watching
Glad you enjoyed it. So fascinating because there is all this life right under your feet on bare rock and most people have no idea its there.
As a kid I used to watch and "study" different kinds of puddles and ditches and I remember how fascinated I was with all the life in them!
Me too. Its been fascinating to learn so much about the desert potholes.
Deserves more attention. Now I love potholes :D.
This was a remarkable video. Never would have guessed those tiny pools have teeming ecosystems.
Thank you! Glad you learned something from it. It was fun working with Tim and him figuring out what we were filming.
Damn this is one of the best videos I've seen in ages. Just a guy talking passionately about something. So good
As a Rush fan, this is what "natural science" is about! Look it up, listen and be amazed.😊
Wish more people has this level of appreciation for life...
Thank you. Maybe our little video will help towards that goal
Thank you for this lovely video! I miss Moab so much!
This is the most amazing video I’ve seen in a long time! Moab has become that much more intriguing thanks to you.
It reminds me of the many different creatures along the shore line in Unalaska. It looked like a miniature scale of the busiest metropolis of all the creatures doing their part in this ecosystem. Once again, Amazing video!
Thank you! Tim and I really enjoying making the video and we have the Moab Area Travel Council to thank for funding such an incredible topic.
Absolutely amazing!
Imagine some the smallest creatures being resilient enough to withstand the conditions of open space. Really cool information in this video.
Nature is definitely the best at conserving nature. It will find a way.
You can definitely see a bit of prehistoric in these pools
Great video, thanks for sharing it and your knowledge !
Fascinating stuff. I could listen to Tim talk about pot holes all day.
Definitely! He’s a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the creatures in the ephemeral pools
Its just Aaaamazing! Thanks for showing us!
It’s our pleasure!
This is amazing. I am from a coastal city and never would have thought ephemeral desert pools could host large shrimps like this. Nature is amazing, thank you for sharing this and educating us about them.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This video is so good. I’ve spent hours exploring similar pools without having a clue what i was looking at. Hearing an expert talk about the ecosystem with the same excitement is a blessing
Glad you liked it. Tim had the same effect on me. It was invaluable to have someone like Tim to watch the macro footage and tell me what I was filming.
I have walked across areas like that while they were still dry...your microscopic photos are incredible
Fascinating! Great job Dr. Graham and Mark Finley.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Amazing video and I could listen to Tim for hours. He tells the story so well.
Thank you. Tim is the best.
What a great teacher. Passionate and accessible
Definitely! Glad you enjoyed the video
I'd love to see those samples under a microscope.
Well... now I will be way more careful when I am out in the desert! Thank you for educating me!
You’re welcome. Glad you liked the video.
Amazing video
Thanks!
its like a glimpse at ancient, early life, ecosystems, only at a much smaller scale. worlds within worlds, fascinating and humbling stuff.
Wonderful !Tim Graham is treasure of nature knowledge and calm clear communication thereof! Thank you!
Glad you liked it! Yes, it’s amazing how much Tim knows about the potholes and the creatures that live in them. There’s almost no one else that has all that knowledge. And he’s one of the best when it comes to explaining complex subjects to laymen.
Kudos to your camera person.
Spectacularly gorgeous images of surrounding scenery.
The colors. The hue. The saturation.
Outstanding landscape imagery.
Thank you. Moab’s epic landscapes are one of my favorite places to film, and the ephemeral pools make it just that much more interesting
This is amazing! I grew up and spent thirty years in Utah and had no idea about any of this!