Who Knew? Slime Is Important

There's a recent article in Ecology that highlights the importance of slime – biofilm – to migrating shorebirds, especially the small sandpipers. It turns out all those tens of thousands of peeps we see in migration are feeding on it. Not on stuff in the mud; rather, stuff on the mud. I've got a blog post on it, with a link to the Ecology article.

I love it when some smart scientists can prove up something completely new that, in hindsight, should have been blindingly obvious. And the sense of wonder it brings to my world.

Thanks for this - what an amazing world we have. I love it when I learn the WHYS of things.
Sandy

Very cool, Jim. Thanks for the links.

Thanks for posting this and the link to the original article. I downloaded it a moment ago.

I actually had seen a news article on this a few days ago but it did not have this link. It's fascinating indeed when something is discovered that, in your words, "in hindsight, should have been blindingly obvious". Having been active in scientific research (not birds) I can attest to that. I always liked the quote attributed to Albert Szent-Gyorgyi “Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought.”

Fascinating stuff! Unique and well written (as usual) blog post too.

How wonderful! This is the kind of work in natural history...concise, lucid, and beautifully packaged...that is necessary every few decades to stimulate a few thoughtful and inquisitive young members of each new generation to embark on careers of formulating incredibly obvious questions that have heretofore not been asked...and to do so not because of a promised result...but because rigorous application of the scientific process to the end of proving or disproving a well-stated hypothesis is guaranteed to advance the progress of knowledge. Truly wonderful and up-lifting!
Thank you, Jim, personally, for bringing it to my attention.

It puts me in mind of a line from Leonard Cohen's "Anthem":
"there's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."

Dave Graham,
East River, SD

Thanks for posting this Jim, I found the article a fascinating read and I loved the few WC posts I came upon.