At low tide, the mudflats of French Guiana become a feeding ground for fiddler crabs and shorebirds. Crabs scoop up sediment and sort it inside their mouths, extracting algae, bacteria and tiny animals before discarding the clay. This microscopic food builds their muscles, but feeding outside their burrows exposes them to hungry birds.
Male crabs compete for higher burrows that give them more time to feed, while birds probe the mud with different hunting techniques. Even young fish and shrimp stranded by the retreating tide become food. Across the mudflat, energy passes from microscopic organisms to crab flesh and the muscles that power birds in flight.
Documentary: Silt, Source of Life
Director: Luc Riolon
Production: Les Films en Vrac, France Télévisions, Ushuaïa TV, IRD & UICN (2023)
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