FISH in the DESERT

Desert living is challenging for any creature, but what if your home was just one small pool of water? That’s the predicament of a fish—yes, a fish—that lives in the Mojave Desert.

HOME, SWEET HOME

One of America’s four major deserts, the Mojave is located in the southern parts of Nevada and California. It is home to the famous Death Valley. (Perhaps you’ve heard of it—dry, with wickedly hot summers. Not a great place for a backyard barbecue.)

Just to the east of Death Valley is the Mojave Desert’s largest oasis, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Keep heading east, and at the edge of the oasis you’ll come across an ordinary-looking rock formation surrounded by a fence. You can go through the fence onto a platform. Now look down.