Music • Photography • Writing
National Parks Of The American Rockies
Yellowstone
Bacterial
Art
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While bacteria often work in subtle gradients, sometimes they show off their more flamboyant side, juxtaposing extreme differences in color and texture.
While bacterial art is never static, it is very fragile. Inconsiderate visitors to Yellowstone National Park have thrown trash and carved initials into these delicate displays. But the park's wildlife lacks any sort of artistic sensibility: in the lower left corner you can see the tracks of bison and elk.
In this pool, the bacteria have created a Zen garden effect by keeping the minerals dissolved in the water. At the top of the photo is a dead tree trunk, killed by the toxic chemicals. At the bottom are some Northern Green Bog Orchids, one of the very few plants that can survive in these conditions. That's all the more odd since orchids are generally very delicate plants. They produce a microscopic, single-celled seed that requires the presence of a specific fungus in order to germinate.
Some bacterial art is impressive for its sheer magnitude. This edge of one of the largest hot pools is lined with a network of bacterial mats that forms a gradient into the dark water of the pool.
Like red hot magma flowing from beneath the surface of the earth, this stream glows with its thriving bacterial communities.
I hope I've helped to convince a few people that bacteria, far from being our enemies, can be fascinating, beautiful creatures. And after all, the number of harmful species is a lower percentage than the percentage of dangerous humans in our own species. Still, it's not a bad idea to wash your hands fairly often.