It Looks Like a Desert. But It Has Thousands of Lakes

dante chazy

Lençóis Maranhenses sits at the intersection of three biomes—a rare overlap that supercharges biodiversity. Across 350 square miles of dunes, the rainy season brings thousands of crystal blue lagoons into view, many big enough to swim in. What makes this surreal environment possible? And why, even after 2 million years in existence, does it still feel so mysterious?

Transcript

00:00Sometimes I like just to stay on the top of the first Zoom, looking at the people's reaction,

00:11people arrive and...

00:19The first time that I came here, I was around 12 years old.

00:24It was shocking. It was a feeling like to be in another planet. It looks like a desert.

00:34But Lençóis Maranhenses gets more rain than Scotland or London, which is around 1,600 millimeters a year.

00:45So it's not a desert, it's something else.

00:48Lençóis Maranhenses, on the northeast coast of Brazil, sits at the intersection of three biomes,

00:57a rare overlap that supercharges biodiversity.

01:01Here, a field of dunes spreads across 350 square miles,

01:06and every year, these mountains of sand migrate up to 80 feet.

01:11Then, during the rainy season, thousands of lagoons appear, many big enough to swim in.

01:18So what makes this surreal environment possible?

01:21And why, even after two million years in existence, does it still feel so mysterious?

01:26Lençóis Maranhenses is the biggest field of dunes in South America.

01:40Between these dunes, during the rainy season, the water level rises and they form lagoons.

01:48You can never see Lençóis Maranhenses twice, because everything is changing all the time.

01:56Strong movements of sand and water changing the shapes and the composition of the lagoons.

02:05I spent almost like an year camping and living in tents around the park

02:10and surveying of gibbons and reptiles.

02:14This opportunity changed my view of life and helped to afford the biologist that I am today.

02:23Some visitors arrive there and wonder why the water just doesn't sink.

02:29Underneath the field of dunes, there is a rock which traps water so it doesn't keep sinking forever.

02:42So let's imagine there is a bathtub.

02:45When it rains, the water level starts to rise.

02:51And then you can see the water in the holes in between the dunes.

02:56So you can see the lagoons formed.

02:59And then in the dry season, the water evaporates.

03:03The water level starts to go down again until it gets seared.

03:06The water is still there.

03:08People cannot see it, but it's still there.

03:10Here, an unusually large tide range creates a wide beach at low tide.

03:30Strong winds lift the fine sand and blow it inland to build new dune ridges.

03:35The winds come mainly from the same direction.

03:42The sand gets dry and then they can be carried by the strong winds.

03:48They measure the size of the grains.

03:51It's so little.

03:55The sand is so soft, so loose, that it flows down the hill like water.

04:02It's beautiful.

04:03The wind is constantly redrawing paths.

04:07So locals follow wind and ridgelines, not maps.

04:13I was born and I was born here on the top of the Mangue.

04:16My parents were born here.

04:18My grandparents were born here.

04:20And we live here all the time.

04:26Sometimes we go in the morning, when it's raining, the dunes are straight.

04:29When we go back in the afternoon, the dunes are in another way.

04:34We have to have a lot of attention, because sometimes we lose.

04:38From the end, it's raining and it's raining all the rest of the car.

04:41From the end, it's raining and it's raining in the middle of the other.

04:45It's been a week.

04:46From the end, it's raining and it's raining and we go out.

04:48But at the end, we realized that we are not on the right path.

04:52We go back again, we go back to the road and go out.

04:56We call it the desert that breathes because of the dunes, right?

04:59The movement of the dunes.

05:00Everything is destroyed and rebuilt every single year.

05:14In the region of Langsois, everything is mixed.

05:18There are some animals that occur just there.

05:22And salt marshes very far from the ocean.

05:26The difference from almost all the others that exist in the world.

05:31That usually occur very close to the beach, because it needs this salt.

05:37We have a turtle, which is peninga, water tiger turtle.

05:43So it's an endemic species.

05:45And the park plays an important role for its conservation,

05:49because it doesn't exist anywhere else.

05:52And this animal is known to rest digging underneath the dunes.

05:57So it reduces its metabolism waiting for the next rainy season.

06:04The fish have a life cycle shorter than one year.

06:07They leave the eggs that are resistant to this dryness.

06:11And when the water comes, everything comes to life again.

06:20We are going to a world of extremes.

06:25Langsois, it's a micro laboratory.

06:29As we increase our knowledge, we might find ideas that might be useful

06:35on the perspective of climatic emergency.

06:41As we live near the dunes, we have to change.

06:47My father lived in the middle of those dunes.

06:51The dunes are growing, growing, growing, growing.

06:54Here, for us, after three or four years, we have to leave here.

06:58Because the dunes are coming close to it and they are playing in the area.

07:01When the lakes are dry, we take the fish of those lakes that are dry and put where there is more water.

07:08So they keep surviving, because otherwise they will die from dry, because everything is dry.

07:19When I close my eyes and I think about the inside of the maranhas,

07:23I think about the water is the water.

07:24The first thing that comes to my mind is a dragonfly flying over a lagoon.

07:32There are white flowers.

07:35They are roots dancing in the water.

07:41It's a place that can really change people's mind and soul and hearts.

07:47And they say, for the first time, I'm breathing.

07:54Very special, this master.

08:04When I passed away, I like it to burn me and put my ashes moving from lakes to lakes.

08:13Moving with the wind, with the water.

08:17I like it to be part of it for everyone.

08:24Hi, we want to hear your feedback.

08:26Every year, PBS Digital Studios sends out an audience survey,

08:30which we use to help understand what you enjoy on YouTube

08:33and what you would want to see us make more of.

08:35You also get to vote on new show ideas,

08:38so it would be great if Untold Earth fans were well represented in the polls.

08:41There's a link in the description.

08:43Thanks in advance.

08:47I want to hear your feedback.

08:48I think there will be a video,

08:50but I will not know what, but I will see you okay if you want to share.

08:52There's so many hashtags,

08:53but you can see some people in the polls ===

08:53There's some people on YouTube,

08:54Under cebolas

08:57and Facebook across the Depths

09:00where you've been reading the book about a series of caricatures.

09:03Here's what happens.

09:05I have to know your stuff.

09:06After that is a fun story.

09:07Let's see you,

09:08the next- tutaj.

09:09And,

09:10phones will help you,

09:13the next dayび make a point.

09:14When you reach information every piece of digital has to be formed.

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