Two bits of information caught my attention today.
One was about Epishura, and the second was about Li Ziqi.
Now, chances are that you have not heard of either of them. Nor had I.
The first one inhabits Lake Baikal, the largest source of freshwater in the world. It contains 23% of the worlds’s freshwater, and is renowned for it’s pure H2O.
But how does the lake remain so clean? The answer lies in a zooplankton species called Epishura baicalensis.
The share of Epischura in Lake Baikal is about 80 % of all the crustaceans, and its total biomass in the lake is 60,000 to 950,000 tons, depending on the year and season.
Epishura feeds itself by filtering food from the water with several pairs of mouthparts, which create a flow of water and simultaneously form a kind of a filter net to capture the desired food particles. The copepod is able to filter about one cup of water per day, thereby participating in the cleansing of Lake Baikal.
Epishura feeds on bacteria and unicellular algae, mainly diatoms, and is itself food for other crustaceans (cyclops and macrohectopus) and for all pelagic fish (omul, golomyanka, sculpin, etc.). Thus, Epishura is an essential link in the energy transmission chain from phytoplankton to predatory zooplankton representatives and fish.
This is what a single crustacean can achieve, although inadvertently.
We on the other hand, are the most advanced species on earth, by far. And our gift to the earth is pollution and wastage and exploitation, to a point where climate change has become a frightening reality.
What a waste of intelligence.
The second (Li Ziqi) is one of the most popular YouTubers to come out of China. She lives in rural China, and through engaging videos, has brought out the village lifestyle and traditional methods of living, one day at a time.
I have seen similar channels crop up in India too – one from Kerala (Life in Wetland) stands out. There are a lot of aspiring YouTubers nowadays, most of who end up being cringeworthy. There is no creativity, nothing remotely outstanding on offer – just someone armed with a camera and a charged battery and a dish that is destined for the recycle bin.
Li Ziqi and Life in Wetland however, are the ASMR versions of village living. Those in cities who pride themselves on living a “higher quality of life” would end up learning a lot about living life in the slow, and blissful lane, one video at a time. The videos are shot well, have little to no commentary, and one feels like one is watching them through a one-way window, with deep sighs of “Oh I wish I could be like this one day”.
Try a video or two. You will like it:)
See you tomorrow!