#estuary

Here the result of the Escuminac Formation #paleostream! These deposits from the Devonian of Canada offer a glimpse into a coastal fish community with some absolute bangers and historical favorites. But it doesn't come without it challenges.

Most difficult was actually where to set this piece. Historically interpretations of this formation have varied a lot, from lakes to marine settings. However the Escuminac Formation is now pretty well established as a estuary setting in a large bay fed by a river delta.

However, this particular dispositional environment is horrible when it comes to artwork! Visibility underwater drops into nothingness. That's why we moved the pieces into a calmer inlet, behind a barrier spit, hugely inspired by the Jupiter inlet in Florida.

Fauna wise you are confronted with a lot of Bothriolepis and Eusthenopteron, but the largest creature here is Elpistostege, a "fishopod", a relative of Tiktaalik. Acanthodians, early coelocanths and placoderms complete the image with eurypterids lurking the shadows...

Not only is the preservation exceptional here but was also have tons of juveniles from here. In some cases whole ontogenetic series can be reconstructed. This might indicate that this bay was used as a nursery which is why I wanted to show different reproductive strategies n this pieces. With stuff like mouth brooding, egg laying and ovivivipary. Size charts by Discord member HeWhoNeedsToBeSilenced, he also did the separate baby chart above.

"When considering the great victories of America’s conservationists, we tend to think of the sights and landscapes emblematic of the West, but there’s also a rich history of acknowledging the value of the wetlands of America’s south.

These include such vibrant ecosystems as the Everglades, the Great Dismal Swamp, the floodplains of the Congaree River, and “America’s Amazon” also known as the “Land Between the Rivers”—recently preserved forever thanks to generous donors and work by the Nature Conservancy (TNC).

With what the TNC described as an “unprecedented gift,” 8,000 acres of pristine wetlands where the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers join, known as the Mobile Delta, were purchased for the purpose of conservation for $15 million. The owners chose to sell to TNC rather than to the timber industry which planned to log in the location.

“This is one of the most important conservation victories that we’ve ever been a part of,” said Mitch Reid, state director for The Nature Conservancy in Alabama.

The area is filled with oxbow lakes, creeks, and swamps alongside the rivers, and they’re home to so many species that it ranks as one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, such that Reid often jokes that while it has rightfully earned the moniker “America’s Amazon” the Amazon should seriously consider using the moniker “South America’s Mobile.”

“This tract represents the largest remaining block of land that we can protect in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. First and foremost, TNC is doing this work for our fellow Alabamians who rightly pride themselves on their relationship with the outdoors,” said Reid, who told Advance Local that it can connect with other protected lands to the north, in an area called the Red Hills.

“Conservation lands in the Delta positions it as an anchor in a corridor of protected lands stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Appalachian Mountains and has long been a priority in TNC’s ongoing efforts to establish resilient and connected landscapes across the region.”

At the moment, no management plan has been sketched out, but TNC believes it must allow the public to use it for recreation as much as possible.

The money for the purchase was provided by a government grant and a generous, anonymous donor, along with $5.2 million from the Holdfast Collective—the conservation funding body of Patagonia outfitters."

Video via Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, August 7, 2020