ナショナルジオグラフィックさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ナショナルジオグラフィックInstagram)「Photos by @ottowhitehead and National Geographic Explorer @jeremymarkshelton | For thousands of years, the Clanwilliam sandfish was widespread throughout South Africa’s Olifants-Doring River system. Each spring, tributaries would erupt with life as streams of sandfish made their way upriver to spawn. Today the species is on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 200 adult fish undertaking the migration up the last known spawning tributary. The reason? A broken life cycle. Ten days after spawning, tiny fry emerge from the eggs and swim to vegetation to feed and grow. But these nursery areas have become overrun by alien fish, which prey on the juvenile sandfish. To make matters worse, the once perennial Biedouw River now dries up in summer, leaving any surviving sandfish high and dry. In response to this dire situation, Saving Sandfish was created to help boost juvenile survival. The project involves rescuing young sandfish from vulnerable habitats and relocating them to a safe environment before being released one year later. This "head start" gives them a much better chance of surviving to adulthood. Since 2019, six sanctuaries have been created in partnership with local landowners, and 33,391 juvenile fish have been rescued and more than 1,600 head-started sandfish have been released back into the wild. Two-thirds of the released fish were tagged; 77 returned the following year, representing a 55% increase in the local spawning population. The long-term aim is to restore wild nursery areas so that sandfish can once again thrive without human intervention. Read the full story at the link in the bio. Project supported by @insidenatgeo. Whitehead photographed images 2,3,9,10; Shelton took the others. #SavingSandfish #EndangeredSpeciesDay」5月20日 9時00分