From time to time, even the harshest environments surprise scientists. The Australian outback is one such place. As home to a diverse group of organisms, it sometimes plays host to a distant visitor, the banded stilt. When conditions in the Australian outback are right, a distant shoreline visitor, the Banded Stilt arrives by the thousands to breed. The mystery behind this behavior was finally documented when Cyclone Bobby started a chain reaction by flooding a dry salt lake in the outback. In this program we witness how a cyclone started a chain reaction, allowing a barren salt lake to flood, ultimately supporting a new brine shrimp population. We see how the food web works, as the mysterious banded stilts take advantage of the influx of brine shrimp to the area.

Originally released by TMW Media Group, 2014. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on February 08, 2017.

Introduction to the Banded Stilt (2:04); --Cyclone Bobby (2:11); -- Salt Lakes (3:04); -- Hatching Eggs (3:02); -- Water Levels Recede (3:10); -- Credits: The Banded Stilt - A Wetland Survivor: Show Me Science (0:08); .