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When I was younger, during a early spring mushroom hunt, my father and I came across a pool of fairy shrimp. Neither of us had ever seen them before and we thought they were some sort of tadpole. Fortunately, this was back when I was in highschool, so we took a few from the pool (this was before phone had good cameras) and took them in to my biology teach who was equally as shocked and perplexed as to what they were. He did some research and was able to finally identify them for us! It was so amazing to find something so rare that three individuals (two people that were well into their late 40s at the time) had never seen before and even when I tell people about them today, rarely do people even believe me lol! Great video!
When I was a kid, there was a creek in the woods that was fed from the drain pipe of a pond. It was full of those shrimp. The adults thought we were imagining things until we caught a couple in a jar.
Temporary ponds are always such an interesting ecosystem. It's amazing how fish being absent allows so many creatures, like fairy shrimp and amphibians, to eek out a living.
When I was a kid in the mid-60s and lived next to a woods in central Indiana, I always looked forward to the earliest spring adventure. I vividly remember one time coming across a little, what I thought was, a hole in the ground full of water. It was no larger than 2 feet in diameter. As I stared at the setting, hoping to see something, perhaps a wood frog, I was startled in disbelief, seeing what looked like some shrimp. I went back to that spot over a few days and marveled at these tiny creatures. I tried to replicate that discovery the following late winter, early spring years, but I never saw them again. Thanks for sharing your discovery. It brought back some very happy memories for me.
They seem to be a larger relative of brine shrimp (sea monkeys). They certainly look just like them and follow a similar life cycle, but I didn't know that these were in the woods. Maybe I'll see some eventually.
these critters live in ponds way up in the coastal redwoods too. the platforms of tree debris up in the tops actually have ponds up in them that have specialized species like shrimp and frogs and salamanders that never see the ground. pretty cool.
I used to really enjoy keeping their cousins as pets; brine shrimp [sea monkeys] are easy to take care of and fun to watch. Fairy shrimp are also fun to keep as pets but they aren't quite as common in the pet market.
@@luke14946 I didn't say they were the same, I was saying brine shrimp are a type of fairy shrimp. Every brine shrimp is a fairy shrimp, but not every fairy shrimp is a brine shrimp. Just look at the phylogeny.
I was about ten when I came across some of these in the shallow, tree filled pond in my back yard in CT (not a vernal pool). I thought someone had released their pet sea-monkeys! I went home and checked my Golden Guide Book Of Pond Life (yes, I was "that kid" :-) ) and identified them as ferry shrimp. In all the years we lived there (1965-1985) I never saw them again. Thank you Adam for another wonderful video. You are a national treasure!
My wife and I were out just a few days ago looking at a few of these pools in a forest we had never visited before. We were both wondering what life exists in these pools, because it seemed like the life would have to be pretty adapted to the amount of tannins and lack of oxygen in them. Learning about these shrimp is absolutely fascinating. Thanks for another great video and invitation to exploration.
This channel is amazing. This feels like a modern Carl Sagan type episode, really all your videos are so full of vital information, I think this will all age very well. On the topic of the video: It's crazy that eggs and seeds are basically the same thing!
Yes, I agree. It also put me in mind of the great poet-naturalist, Loren Eiseley, whose books have recently been re-issued by Library of America, and are still inspirational reading.
@@ColumbiaB : Yes. I first discovered him during my long ago college freshman year, through his "Darwin's Century", and thence, as they were issued, his subsequent volumes, which, much later when I tought cultural and religious history, I always included on the course's reading list. The 2 volume reissue of his works (sadly sans "Darwin's Century ") is now a cherished part of my library to which I return again and again.
I'm glad you did not post this on April 1. I would not have believed you. As it is, I'm shocked I never noticed them before and I'm excited to go out and look for them! Nature is amazing!
Thank you Adam! I have lived in Western Pennsylvania for more than 65 years. I have learned so much from watching your extremely informative videos about wildlife I never knew existed in Pennsylvania.
this is so cool, im going to show my homeschooled kiddos. We are nature lovers and we hike daily as a family (7 of us in all) and we never knew these existed. ♥️
Only my personal opinion as a person who was homeschooled. Home school is child abuse it stunts social development, despite what you may think you likey cannot educate your children in the way that is needed, and you will make it very difficult for your children to progress further than a "highschool" level education. I understand why you may feel differently and I know the draw backs of public school but unfortunately there are not good enough programs for keeping your children social and informed from home.
Again I applaud you Mama and Papa for homeschooling your children it's the best education they will ever receive its hands on they learn the truth and they learn life-saving skills. Our social structure is all around. If I could go back and do it all again I would homeschool 100%.
Great video! I love sharing these fun facts with my kids. If some viewers are thinking these look familiar (especially folks who are a little older), it may be because this crustacean class (Branchiopoda) was marketed in the past as "Sea Monkeys". When found in salt water, they are typically referred to as brine shrimp and when found in fresh water they are commonly called fairy shrimp. Maybe we can call these "Sea Monkeys of the Woods". :)
That's the most awesome thing I think I've ever heard of that resides in the woods. I have spent many many many days and nights in the woods all over the United States and especially on the East Coast but I have never thought to look in those pools. Absolutely awesome! Thanks Adam, I love it when I learn at least one thing a day. Stay vigilant my friend!
Never would I ever have imagined these little creatures were shrimp! Having spent most of my life frequenting the woods, I’m so excited to learn about them! Thank you for this excellent content, Adam.
Thanks Adam, I can't immagine how much time and effort it takes to produce such stunning videos. I appreciate the extra effort to teach about the nocturnal activity of these creatures. Your photography skills are amazing and so is your enthusiasm!
i know where were all these people when I was 22 walking through my woods alone, or with children in tow!! I was always in the woods, but alas no one was interested but me. My youngest son still loves the woods, but the oldest hates it! lol! Funny how children are. LOL
Had the blessing of running carefree in the woods as a child. I saw these and many more wonderous things. Ecosystems are wonderful curiosities that give and give. This was wonderfully written and delivered. Nice work!
What amazing, magical looking little creatures! Suddenly, I feel compelled to see if I can create a vernal pool on the land where I live and am working to restore. Perhaps then the fairy shrimp will grace me with their presence!
I wonder just how resilient the eggs are. They remind me of tardigrades which can live in water on the surface of leaves, moss, and other random debris. Tardigrades are known for being resistant to just about everything, and they have to be because the water they live in dries up often, and they need to just wait it out until they're rehydrated. The shrimp eggs would have similar selection pressures on them, so I wonder if they could withstand absurd conditions like gamma radiation and space like the tardigrades do
Really amazing, Adam! I had these types of shrimp when I was little. A small hand-sized tank with sand, and they were easily forgotten over time. When summer arrived, the rain transformed it into a new small world. Some days later, I noticed 6 to 10 shrimps in the small tank and simply observed their life cycle. It was incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and lovely. Thank you for reminding me of these memories.
When I was younger I used to love going out into the woods near my house and exploring absolutely everything one day I went down to the river and flipped over a rock (as I’d usually do on land) and low and behold dozens of small prehistoric looking creatures came out, I was convinced I’d rediscovered one of those Cambrian bugs but until now I had no idea what they were. Thanks for uploading this it took me right back.
How beautiful they are, translucent swimmers performing their synchronized backstroke for those who take the time to look for them. Apparently different varieties are found in many kinds of habitat, from desert to ice, around the world. Thanks for another discovery.
"There are things in these woods that we could see. There are things in these woods that we should see. But there are things in these woods that we don't see." Great lesson definitely not haunting
Reminds me of 8th grade biology in winter in Michigan. A friend and I retrieved some muck and creek water for the teacher and there were a couple minuscule type shrimp like creatures in the water and muck. We saw the creatures in the water but had no idea we had captured any of them. We found we had captured some when the water settled down. I have long since forgotten their name. I did not know there was a similar type shrimp that occurs in periodical ponds. Thanks!
Your video, Adam, is a fabulous educational conservation tool. I knew that fairy shrimp were one way to confirm that a waterbody is a vernal pool but I never personally saw them.
Have you ever known a happy person who was unkind or unpleasant to be with? Thank you Adam for sharing your love and appreciation of this wonderful creature with us.
@@johnvanegmond1812 you are right there is a satisfaction like this but that's not what makes my life happy. Maybe being malicious is bad for my overall happiness but it doesn't prevent me from a happy life. Neither does being happy prevent me from being wicked.
West/Central PA resident here. It's so nice to see someone sharing the natural beauty of this wonderful place! Until next time, I'll see yinz down by the crick.
Amazing! It's comforting to hear wood ducks and other creatures have this food source as habitat declines. You're an artist with your lovely compositions and a wonderful photographer as well. Thank You
Another fascinating video Adam! I found it interesting that Fairy Shrimp are related to crabs, lobsters & krill and are among the most primitive of living crustaceans! 👍👍🦀🦀🦞🦞
Ohhh I’ve seen these before! I tried looking it up to see what it was but could never identify it! Part of the problem was because I could hardly describe it.. feathery fish like thing in Pennsylvania water? Lol Thanks for this, Adam! You are always an amazing source of information!
They are related to the "Sea Monkeys" I would buy as a kit when I was a child (to watch them hatch and grow from dormant state) . Except for the color, they look the same. Love your videos!
They were Brine shrimp. "Sea monkeys" was a marketing invention by a huckster who got rich off of such bogus products and used his wealth to support white supremacist movements and homegrown Neo you-know-who's. Look it up, its true.
Sea monkeys (aka brine shrimp) are actually just another type of fairy shrimp. There are many different species that live in different biomes with vernal pools and similarly functioning bodies of water, the ones in the video dwell in forest pools, while brine shrimp dwell in hypersaline pools.
Its a real discovery when Adam shares with us his latest find!! This video just explemplifiues how even Adam is still discovering new things and he knows that woodland area very well… Thank you!! ❤❤❤❤
YES! I I fell in love with these miraculous critters many years ago and am often trying to show them to others. Well done! A few questions: #1) is all this your own footage? It's amazing. #2) what is that bird alarming throughout the first few minutes of the talk?
Years of watching you since your long hair days has led me to seeing all the hundreds of edible and fascinating flora and fauna in my northern wet forest property in a way the boy scouts and Carl Sagan never showed me, but led me inexorably towards the information you give freely. Thanks for all the wisdom Adam. If you're ever interested in southern New England forest, I live across the street from a state forest near the tri-state marker between MA CT & RI. It would be a pleasure to meet you this year when weather breaks to warm.
Another tiny shrimp like forest dweller is a scud they tend to swim on their sides rather than backs, but they are also a fascinating part of the ecosystem. I used to find them in the intermittent streams and ponds in the mountains of Arizona when I was a kid.
"Hang out with people who allow you to see the things you don't see." ❤ That's perfect! My husband and I choose unusual people to be close friends with. People who show us things we didn't know existed. We do the same for them.
Great Thoughts and Great Videos! My first thought was "land shrimp" which is the doodle bug or pill bug "Armadillidium vulgare". This "bugs" are technically related to shrimp rather than insects. Survivalist say that the pill bug can be boiled in water and then throw the water out before eating. Time to have second thoughts about polluting ponds. Thank you
Thank you for sharing these beautiful creatures with us. One of my favorite places in the world is a little spot in the woods along the Wisconsin River. Every year parts of that land flooded with melting snow but usually didn't connect with the river. I've walked along those pools countless times on my way to my spot in the woods. I had no idea that such beautiful creatures were there the whole time and dormant when the water disappeared.
When I was a kid, in southern Ontario, we had a woodlot that would flood about a foot or so every winter. One spring, my brother and I were exploring the water and we seen hundreds of these shrimp, a very bright orange, and they seemed to be everywhere. Of course, we got a jar and caught about a dozen or so but we couldn't figure out what they were. It was the sixties, so we didn't have the internet. After that, we would look forward to the spring when the fairy shrimp would re-emerge. They always returned but never in the numbers of that first spring. We called them tadpoles but I never found out what they were until I was an adult. Enjoyed this video. It brought back memories.
I live in the south of England and when I was a kid we went camping in the New Forest. Our usual pitch was next to a small, slow-flowing stream that was populated by these shrimp. Their only predator was the occasional stickleback (about 2" long fish). Anyone wants to have a closer look at pond-life I can recommend a small dipping net and a clear jar :)
No way! While hiking with a couple friends last week, we found a rock pool in the isolated high-desert/forest mountains of Arizona, and these were in there!! They were so tiny it was hard to say what they were but I hypothesized they were either insect larvae or some sort of fish fry. I hadn't even considered that they could be crustaceans! I also found this video completely by accident, which is just as wild lol!
As a kid in Mexico I came across these once in a small pond and never knew what they were or even why they were there, far from any coastline at 7000 feet elevation. Now I'm certain it was these! Thank you so much
Adam, Hello. With the growing popularity of medicinal mushrooms it would be cool to see you do an update on the medicinal mushrooms you have covered. I enjoy your channel and have been inspired to learn more. Thank you Jim S
Adam I admire how you live with nature while learning and understanding the world around you. Your knowledge of the woodlands of your area (and probably beyond) is a treasure trove and your take on invasive species are thought provoking. I think if we all took the time to see the world as you do, we would all be in a better place! I wish you all the best and hope you never stop making videos!
Your love and fascination for nature really comes through! Hope it reaches more people and reminds us that nature is something we are part of and should protect :D
Wow! Thank you, brother, for sharing this. If I have ever seen these creatures before in my decades of early springtimes in your region, I probably assumed they were a larval form of a flying insect. I have some vernal pools nearby right now. I accept your challenge to go out there and look for some fairy shrimp.
Great video! There's a pool near here, that has had fairy shrimp for many years. I used to spend hours there, watching them and all the other denizens. The largest animal I ever saw were tree frogs and their tadpoles. It is a magical place!
As a Christian, this reminds me of the wonder of God's creation and how creative He is. (We are creative too, as we are made in His image). Thanks, Adam, beautifully presented and awe inspiring!
Read the bible and count the millions of people,god killed .the Noah story for one .the genocide of Joshua where God commands them kill everyone even children .the kills thousands of his believers because the genocidal wasn't total enough . Tribal war gods all the same .evil
@@edwardhaglin2322 male and female, He created both. In Genesis 1:27 we read, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
I live in the Mojave Desert in CA, and years ago a Jr. high science teacher took us out to dry lake bed, and showed us how to collect the eggs of these amazing creatures. You can just pick up the dry mud, like dirt clods from the lake bed, and stick it in water. In a few days, a bunch of these guys are swimming around. They are very cool, because the lakes normally look absolutely lifeless and scorched in the sun -but when it rains, these guys hatch.
Interesting and explanatory video as always 😊 Love your points at the end! Something that I really like about my job as a forager is to make people notice all the different wild plants growing around them 🌱
I saw these when I was a kid in a seasonal pond, my father and neighbors told me there were probably some kind of larva. It’s nice to learn what they really were 25 years later.
Fairy shrimp have been common in pet stores in the fresh water aquarium section near me as a kid. I never knew they came from vernal pools in the woods however! Thank you for the information!
YESSSSS!!!! I saw these as a child and teen growing up in Eastern Ohio. I thought "Mother Nature is Crazy!" hahahaha....but I never researched any further...so awesome to watch your video and learn more about these "relics" from my childhood! Thank you!
Thank you! I focus so much on the weather and if I can go out without having asthma problems... I do forget how beautiful nature can be, and all I have to do is look around. I'm fine if someone I trust is with me, but when I am alone, I can barely look up from the ground (PTSD, anxiety, etc) You remind me there is so much more out there than just scary people!
Dude thank you so much to bringing light to this! I used to look in puddles and creeks for these little guys! I one believed me that they actually existed. My brother actually made one of these pools by almost sinking his four-wheeler so that the water would just collect when it rained a lot!
Thank you for this & every other video you've put out! It's so cool to learn more about the wilderness of western PA, makes it feel all the more like home :)
Thank you! A family member mentioned these creatures, but didn’t have all of the answers to my questions. You certainly did! Explained so thoroughly and also enjoyable!
Thanks for this delightful video, which reminded me of something I knew over a half century ago (but had forgotten), when my chum and I enjoyed many a ramble through the, sadly, now gone woodlands and fields around our home in upstate New York, tuning our eyes and minds to take in all the wonders of the natural environment. I have been a champion of the natural environment ever since. Thanks for your video reminders of the beautiful, wonderful -- and fragile -- world we live in. I wish my generation had been better stewards of the world which, after all, we only hold in trust ! By the way, your presentation reminded me of Robert Frost's poem, "Spring Pools". Do you know it ?
Ahhhh I can’t tell you how excited I was to see you do a video on this! I’ve been lucky enough to observe these, but never been able to get a good photo.
I remember finding these as a kid in a creek that would dry out every year. I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what they were but wasn’t able to get a solid answer. Then a couple months later I went on vacation out into the desert and climbed up to the top of a mountain at the very top of the mountain there were pools of rainwater and some of these fairy shrimp were inside of it
I first learned about fairy shrimp at Burning Man. The event takes place in a dried up lake bed that fills with water every spring. When the conditions are right, millions of fairy shrimp hatch and live in the water, providing an important food source for native bird species
