(Image: Cristobal Serrano/cristobalserrano.com)
WANT to know what a brain the size of a planet looks like? Check out the San Fernando marshes in Bah铆a de Cadiz Natural Park, Spain.
Covering an area of 105 square kilometres, the park blends wetlands, beaches, pine forests and reed beds, fed by the Guadalete river on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. The Guadalete gets its name from an Arabic phrase meaning 鈥渞iver of forgetfulness鈥�, which seems appropriate for a dreamlike image such as this.
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鈥淭he first time I flew over the Bay of C谩diz, I was immediately surprised at the similarity with the human brain,鈥� says photographer .
The brain-like convolutions and fractal patterns in the marshes lie in the intertidal zone. The green areas get their colour from Ulva algae, also known as sea lettuce. Further inland 鈥� to the top of the picture 鈥� silt and sludge build up and in these oxygen-poor conditions, purple sulphur bacteria start to dominate.
This picture was taken at low tide, and the colours have not been manipulated. 鈥淚 am a wildlife photographer,鈥� says Serrano. 鈥淢y work is to show how nature sometimes can surprise us with unreal scenes.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭he planet鈥檚 brain鈥�
