Sometimes they eat zooplankton (small animals that float in the ocean), fish eggs, and larval fish. They eat mostly phytoplankton - algae that float in the water and, like plants, get energy from the Sun. When the fish are young they must find food quickly to survive. The yolks provide the young fish with some nutrition, but not much. Like all fish, anchovies hatch from eggs. Living in the cool, nutrient-rich water of the Pacific off the west coast of South America, Peruvian anchovies are small and gray with scales that shimmer. El Niño doesn’t just make fish scarce off the coast of Peru, it has an impact on the entire planet.īefore they wind up on a pizza* or in a tin can with a rollaway lid, anchovies are in the ocean. ![]() Today we know that El Niño is the warm phase of a climate phenomenon called ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation). Because it was a bit like the weather that would happen around Christmas, at the start of Southern Hemisphere summer, they called it El Niño, the child, in honor of Christmas. This had happened before, every few years. The skies were cloudy and the air was humid instead of dry. The Peruvian fishermen noticed that warmer water and tropical fish had appeared. Seabirds couldn’t find food and died in large numbers. Fish are very important to the coastal Peruvians because the climate is dry and it's hard to farm the land.īut in 1972, the boats returned to shore with empty nets and disappointed fishermen. On smaller boats, the fishermen, nets, and anchovies were on deck together and seabirds soared above, looking for a snack. On larger boats the anchovies could be put in a hold below deck. In the 1960s, colorful Peruvian fishing boats returned to shore each day heavy with thousands of anchovies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |