Birds
Bear River refuge birds
American avocets, western grebes, tundra swans and bald eagles across a year in the Great Salt Lake wetlands.
Brine shrimp and brine flies
The two small animals at the base of Great Salt Lake's food web, and different animals.
Brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana) are the largest animals living in Great Salt Lake, at just over a centimeter long. They are filter feeders that sweep in whatever they can swallow, mostly algae, bacteria and bits of detritus. When conditions turn harsh, dormant embryos wait inside cysts until things improve. Millions of birds fatten on brine shrimp, and the cysts are harvested and sold worldwide as food for farmed fish and shellfish.
Brine flies are insects, not shrimp, and are vital food for migratory birds too. Utah State Parks says their larvae spend the winter on the lake bottom, adults live only days, and a salt-removing organ lets them survive the lake's extreme water.
Watching and staying safe
Utah State Parks says brine fly swarms stay at the water's edge and thin out once you wade in.