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JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK — The remnants of Hurricane Hilary led to flooding across the West last month, especially in California and Mexico, but it turns out that it also brought a threatened crustacean species back to life in Southern California's desert — for now, at least.
Joshua Tree National Park rangers took to social media this week to explain why fairy shrimp are now swimming around parts of the park.
The freshwater crustacean species thrives on small ponds that usually dry out in California and parts of Oregon, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Park rangers wrote Tuesday that the species' eggs "can lie dormant for years in the soil of dry pools and potholes."
Then came the remnants of Hurricane Hilary, which provided between 1 and 4 inches of rain at the park in August and refilled the previously "bone-dry" Barker Dam reservoir within the park, officials said. Soon after, park employees and visitors noticed that the shrimp returned with their small, slender bodies, beady little eyes and 11 pairs of legs that function as gills.
"Once they fill with water and the right conditions occur, these eggs can activate, hatch, grow and mature," rangers said.
The tiny creatures will continue to swim around until the water disappears. However, rangers point out that adults will deposit their eggs into the soil before the water dries up, waiting to hatch when a pool forms again to continue their circle of life.
Vernal pool fairy shrimp have been listed as a threatened species since 1994, though. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists habitat loss and fragmentation, predation by nonnative aquatic species, drought and pesticides as key reasons that the species is threatened.
The August storm also temporarily closed the park last month. Rangers reopened day-use activities on Aug. 22 after the park was closed on Aug. 19.
