The rich bounty of plants in the Pantanal all benefit from the snail’s,
constant feeding and recycling.
But the snails banquet comes with a price.
It’s August
and the annual drought transforms the wetland into a vast grassy plain
dotted with small, muddy pools.
The snails are left high and dry, exposed
and tasty.
They make a meal for millions of predators,
especially caimans.
The calcium in the snail shell
helps the caimans to thicken their skins.
Being on the menu is bad enough,
but to continue their vital role of recycling
the surviving snails have to overcome
a much bigger challenge, one which puts the whole ecosystem
of the Pantanal on a knife edge.
Heavy rains
return to the high lands of South America.
The swollen rivers
burst their banks and once again flood across the grassy plains.
Surprisingly, this
is the most dangerous time for the ecosystem.
Millions of tons of swamped grass
begin to rot rapidly, using up the most important
ingredient for life
Oxygen.
The Pantanal is suffocating.
It needs the snail to recycle the dead grass
and unlock the nutrients.
But without oxygen,
the snail can’t survive to do its job.
Thankfully, the snail has a secret weapon.
Uniquely, apple snails possess
a specially adapted telescopic appendage
which can extend to eight centimeters.
A snorkel.
He’s pumping air from the surface
straight to a special lung.
Now he has enough oxygen
to return to what he does best.
Recycling dead matter.
Out of sight.
Oxygen or no oxygen?
The constant feeding of millions of apple snails
keeps the Pantanal alive and rich with nutrients,
no matter what the vast wetland throws at it.
