FILMS &

GRAPHICS

TANGLED IN THE TIDES

1 x 50 minutes

The tropical forests of La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve in Southern Mexico, is a mystical water world unlike any other on Earth. It’s a stuffy, overgrown marshland, linked by a web of interconnecting channels and lagoons that’s continually flooded by the Pacific ocean’s tides.

It’s here, in this salty setting, that we find some of the tallest mangrove trees on Earth… millions of giant Red Mangroves, some up to 30 meters tall. And between the throng of mangroves, a single twisting Red towers over the water’s edge… it’s one in a million. To survive in this salty swamp, the tree has developed some unique adaptations. Its vast, tangled root system lifts the mangrove high above the waterline, and helps it to breathe where no other tree would endure. The tree also has a rather ingenious way to get rid of all the salt it draws form the seawater that fills La Encrucijada’s channels.

The Red’s maze of knotted roots has plenty of nooks and crannies for various fish, crabs and crocodiles to hide in, and provides food to an array birds and mammals found nowhere else on the planet.

Each year, the Mangrove forests are invaded by thousands of migratory birds that come from colder regions in Canada and the U.S.A. . La Encrucijada is a true birder’s paradise. Countless avian hunters stalk their prey between the Red Mangrove’s roots.

But perhaps, the one with the most attitude, is the ‘ill at ease’ Green Heron. These tiny, but vocal birds not only hunt between the tree’s roots, but also raise their young on the Red’s lower branches. And higher up on the tree’s ranches, Brown Pelicans socialize and roost in the Red’s canopy. They are one of the few pelican species to dive-bomb their prey.

The American Crocodile is one of the few species of crocodilian that thrives in salt water, which makes the Red’s roots, the perfect home for this fierce hunter and her hatchlings. Anything that moves in the water, is considered food, and the croc targets everything, from crabs to fish, and even the Brown Pelicans.

But the most abundant creatures that reside amongst the Red’s roots… are crabs. At the base of the tree, male Fiddler Crabs try to seduce the females with their large, lopsided claws. At high tide, Hermit Crabs strip the tree’s roots of algae and bacteria. And above the water, Racer Crabs feed on the tree’s leaves and saplings.

The mangrove ecosystem, is an ever evolving, fluid realm, that provides valuable resources back to our planet. Its produces vast amounts of leaf litter each year that becomes food for various marine species that live amongst the tree’s root. Without the mangrove forests, the world’s coastline are assaulted by fierce storms and hurricanes. And yet, thousands of hectares of mangrove forest are uprooted each year to make room for plantations and other developments. If we don’t save this incredible metropolis, the damage to our planet will be irreparable.

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