Skeleton Coast

 

Credit: BigSugarDaddy

"Namib: Skeleton Coast and Beyond" is a BBC nature documentary in the series "Eden: Untamed Planet". This time the BBC crew did manage to find an area almost devoid of Homo sapiens: the Namib, a coastal desert in southern Africa. Unless I´m mistaken, the docu is taped in the Namibian-Angolan border region. 

For a "desert", I have to say that the Namib is teaming with life, both large and small. Among the larger are lions, enormous flocks of ostriches, oryx, giraffes, elephants, fur seals, jackals and hyenas. The elephants consume seeds containing water, while the jackals and hyenas (unsurprisingly) eat dead seal cubs, the seals themselves of course consuming fish. 

100 days of the year, the sand dunes of the Namib are watered by sea fog, the same fog that makes the coastal area dangerous for ships, earning it the nickname "Skeleton Coast". All kinds of smaller animals thrive on the dunes (and in them): termites, ants, frogs, scorpions...

After seeing this, I wonder whether humans might be the only life form that usually avoids this region! 

"Namib: Skeleton Coast and Beyond" ends with the usual climate change pitch, the temperature in the desert rising, but I somehow suspect that these creatures will survive or even thrive regardless...or simply move. The Namib desert has apparently existed for 55 million years, so it´s not clear to me why it would need "saving" at all. 

Yes, this is Eden.