Today's extremely spicy take is that endangered species protection is a very expensive national vanity project
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I know, I know: the elephants! We don't have 'em. They're not a part of our national vanity project. This is the longhorn fairy shrimp, which lives in seasonal pools of water in rock indentations. It is endangered because "live in tiny seasonal pools" is a shitty life strategy.pic.twitter.com/CfPUbILJic
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Nothing much eats the vernal pool fairy shrimp & it doesn't eat much of anything, either. It just sorta hangs out in the deceptively deep gross puddles that you accidentally ruin your shoes in. We've set aside 13,000 acres specifically for this shrimp. https://www.fws.gov/cno/es/images/Graphics/VPFS_5-yr%20review%20CNO%20FINAL%2027Sept07.pdf …
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These are the recommendations from the 76-page conservation report on this shrimp linked above. I have no idea how much all of this would cost, but you'll hopefully forgive me for thinking that maybe we should just... notpic.twitter.com/Xy6D454Z68
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I wonder if there is value in using such an easily measurable species to gauge the environmental health of a habitat that may contain more 'essential' flora/fauna.
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This shrimp sounds awesome. The offspring embryos can survive in a dessicated state without water until there is a new puddle. That seems interesting and worth setting aside 20 square miles of rural California to save them.pic.twitter.com/Np3XFEDTYu
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Protecting their habitat has side effects of protecting the overall hydrology that allows vernal pools to exist. This impacts all of the river and marsh ecosystems that are connected. The shrimp is the medium, not the message.
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"Nothing much eats the vernal pool fairy shrimp & it doesn't eat much of anything, either. It just sorta hangs out." Fairy shrimp figured out how to live peacefully. Is that why they deserve to die?
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the perfect organism
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Taking no sides, but rather being eyes on the ground... I've walked past one of these conservation areas for 10 years as it occupies the space between our buildings. Doesn't seem like they do much, maybe remove accumulated litter every 6 months or so...
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The ditch that supposedly houses the Fairy Shrimp fills up in the winter for a few weeks of the year, and perhaps I find some comfort in thinking about the rare, thriving ecosystem hidden under the murky waters surface.
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