A video still from “Masterclass, On Eating Snow”, HERE,
by Les Stroud. I would like to thank Mr.
Stroud for his permission to use this picture in my article, the full video of
“Colorado Rockies”, season 3, episode 2, can be found HERE. |
I
am a huge fan of the Survivorman! This
article is in no way intended as criticism, implied or otherwise, of Mr.
Stroud’s thoughts or opinions. I am and
have always been, a great admirer of his work and his thoughts on survival and
on his method of teaching of survival skills.
In a very many ways, he has influenced my writing and my teaching –
Author’s note.
Watermelon snow, from a picture titled “170828-FS-Inyo-PRW-MountRitter (36911026151)”, taken August 29, 2017, Wikimedia Commons, it can be found HERE. |
An excerpt from “Masterclass, On Eating Snow”, by Les
Stroud, found HERE.
This
article started out as a conversation that I had with my oldest son, which went
something like this, “Hey Dad, I just saw a great Survivorman video about
red colored snow, the Survivorman said, that he wasn’t certain what caused the
red color, but that you shouldn’t eat it.
I bet you could find out why the snow was red”!
So,
I did what I always do, I did some research and found the answers, so now let’s
get to the questions.
Watermelon snow, a portion of a picture titled “Antarctica(js) 31”, July 26, 2009, Wikimedia
Commons, it can be found HERE. |
An excerpt from “Masterclass, On Eating Snow”, by Les
Stroud, found HERE.
Watermelon
snow is pretty, but just what makes the snow, pink or red?
Watermelon
snow, which is also called “pink snow” or “blood snow” is something that you
might see during the late spring or summer, in the Arctic or the Antarctica, in
areas above 9,500 feet (2,900 m) or anywhere snow can be found even during the
summer months. Watermelon snow isn’t
caused by either a bacterium or a fungus, but by a type of cold-loving, fresh
water green algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis1,
which produces a bright red carotenoid pigment, as well as chlorophyll for
photosynthesis.
It
produces the bright red pigment to protect itself from harmful UV rays, which
because of the atmosphere above 9,500 feet (2,900 m) and in both the Arctic and
Antarctic regions of the globe is thinner, are more damaging than the
ultraviolet radiation at lower elevations or in the mid-latitudes of the globe.
Chlamydomonas nivalis, a Green algal cell responsible for red coloration of mountain snow-packs. This organism utilizes pollutants carried in snow as a food source and reduces the acidity of meltwater. Thin section observed using TEM. magnified 10,000X. A picture titled “Green algal”, May 19, 2008, Wikimedia Commons, it can be found HERE.
According
to researchers, Chlamydomonas nivalis lies dormant as a cyst or spore under the
snow during the winter, but as spring brings more sun and the snow begins to
melt, the meltwater filled with nutrients reaches the dormant algae cells and
causes them to germinate. When they
germinate, the dormant cells release smaller, green, light sensitive swimming cells
with two whip-like flagella that can swim the cell, upwards within the
snowbank, until they have reached an area where light, moisture, temperature and
UV rays are the best for growth. There
they lose their flagella and develop into resting cells, called aplanospores,
complete with the protective red carotenoid pigment and food reserves. The higher the concentration in snowbank of Chlamydomonas
nivalis, the brighter red the snowbank will be2.
Watermelon snow, a portion of a picture titled “Chlamydomonas nivalis”, July 26, 2009, Wikimedia Commons, it can be found HERE.
An excerpt from “Masterclass, On Eating Snow”, by Les
Stroud, found HERE.
Watermelon
snow is yummy red color and some people even say that it smells faintly of
fresh watermelon, so is it bad for you, can you eat it?
Scott Gediman, the public affairs officer for Yosemite
National Park, in an interview with TODAY said of watermelon snow, “Although
it probably isn’t harmful to eat, we certainly don’t recommend it ...”3. The author, Redwic, wrote that he “... has
even tasted very small doses of snow algae, for testing purposes, without
feeling sick. However, it is possible
that snow algae might be contaminated by bacteria and toxic algae that are
harmful to humans. Eating large
quantities of watermelon snow has been known to cause digestive ailments,
although the tolerance level of each person's digestive system might be
different”4.
Watermelon
snow is thought to have a laxative effect on people who eat it5, And in a survival situation when you might
already be low on water, loose stools or diarrhea can make dehydration worse,
so watermelon snow should be avoided.
However, having said that, it is time to echo the advice of Paul
Kummerfeldt, who said “A doctor can fix giardia, but he can’t fix dead”6. If you don’t have any water and your choice
is eat watermelon snow or die of dehydration, then eat the snow! Just be cautious and careful and follow the
advice of Les Stroud as explained below.
Watermelon snow, a portion of a picture titled “Chlamydomonas nivalis”, August 8, 2006, Wikimedia
Commons, it can be found HERE.
An excerpt from “Masterclass, On Eating Snow”, by Les
Stroud, found HERE. |
How
deep do you have to dig in the snow to make sure that you are through the layer
of Chlamydomonas nivalis?
During
the late spring and summer, when Chlamydomonas
nivalis is active and the snow is various shades of red and pink, some
researchers have found that the penetration of sunlight through snow, and
therefore the growth of algae, approaches zero at four inches (10 cm), however
other sources say the concentrations or “blooms” may extend to a depth of ten
inches (25 centimeters), so you will have to dig down at least four and
possibly more than ten cinches to find snow that is free of color and Chlamydomonas
nivalis7.
However,
before you start eating that clear white snow, remember whenever possible you
should disinfect your water before you drink it, either with a filter, with a
chemical or by boiling it10. Mr.
Gediman, the Yosemite National Park public affairs officer, when talking about eating
snow said, “Like the water in the high country streams, it is probably safe
to drink. However, we highly recommend
treating all water before drinking since there is the possibility of giardia, a
bacteria that can make you very sick.
Therefore, all snow (watermelon or not) should be treated before
consuming”8. In fact, Christopher Joyce9 writes that many
snowflakes are in fact created when
water vapor crystallizes around bacteria!
So, remember next time you are climbing a
mountain, adventuring in the Arctic or in the Antarctic and you see a bright
red, watermelon colored snowbank, look, take pictures, but don’t eat!
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE.
Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1
There are over 60 species of cold-loving (cryophilic) snow algae, but the
species responsible for the red and pink snow is Chlamydomonas nivalis.
2 W. P. Armstrong; “Watermelon Snow: A Strange
Phenomenon Caused by Algal Cells of The Chlorophyta”
3 Drew Wiesholtz; “Red-colored 'watermelon snow'
found at Yosemite National Park”
4 Redwic;
“Exploring The Mystery Of Watermelon Snow”
5 Jennifer Frazer; “Wonderful Things: Don't Eat the Pink Snow”
6
“A doctor can fix giardia, but he can’t fix dead”, is a survival refrain
that Peter Kummerfeldt teaches, and I have echoed since I first heard it in 2005. When worst comes to worst, and you are facing
dehydration, drinking actually or potentially infected water is better than not
drinking at all.
This
might seem like common sense, however as my daughter says, “what is common
sense to one person, isn’t common sense to another; common sense only exists in
the context of your environment”. In
the 1990’s two hikers in the Grand Canyon, ran out of water and didn’t want to
refill their water bottles at a late season creek-bed pothole, teeming with
tadpoles and other life: one of the hikers later died of dehydration and the
other barely survived.
Peter
Kummerfeldt, is a 71 year old survival expert who graduated from the Air Force
Survival Instructor Training School and later was an instructor at the Basic
Survival School, in Spokane, Washington, in the Arctic Survival School,
in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, in the Republic of
the Philippines. Also, Peter was the
Survival Training Director for the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado
Springs, for twelve years (from Peter Kummerfeldt’s biography at “OutdoorSafe
with Peter Kummerfeldt”, found HERE)
“Canyon
Missteps, Lesson: Respect For Danger” Popular Mechanics, Volume 182, Number 8,
August 2005, page 67,
7 W. P. Armstrong; “Watermelon Snow: A Strange
Phenomenon Caused by Algal Cells of The Chlorophyta”
Marek
Stibal, Josef Elster, Marie Šabacká, Klára Kaštovská, “Seasonal and diel changes
in photosynthetic activity of the snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis
(Chlorophyceae) from Svalbard determined by pulse amplitude modulation
fluorometry”
8 Drew Wiesholtz; “Red-colored 'watermelon snow'
found at Yosemite National Park”
9 Christopher Joyce; “Snow Flurries, Bacteria
Likely”
10 Just
as, whenever possible, it is a good idea to disinfect snow and ice, which means
that you first have to melt it, before using it as drinking water, it is also a
good idea to melt ice and snow before putting it into your mouth, since by melting
ice or snow inside your mouth you might reduce your core body temperature or hurt
the inside of your mouth. Additionally,
since snow is so porous, you won’t get enough liquid by eating snow. However, remember Mr. Kummerfeldt’s maxim,
“doctors can cure a lot of things, but they can’t cure dead”, so if comes down
to an eat ice and snow or die of dehydration situation, by all means eat the
snow and ice, just be careful!
Also
remember, since snow is such a good insulator, you first have to “prime” the
pot with water before melting your snow or ice in it. Prime your pot with about a cup (8 ounces or
250 ml) of water, so that you don’t scorch or burn a hole in the pot.
Sources
Armstrong, W. P.;
“Watermelon Snow: A Strange Phenomenon Caused by Algal Cells of The
Chlorophyta”, August
1998, [© W.P. Armstrong], https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/plaug98.htm, accessed July 14, 2020
“Canyon
Missteps, Lesson: Respect For Danger” Popular Mechanics, Volume 182, Number 8,
August 2005, [Hearst Communications Inc, New York, NY] page 67, https://books.google.com/books?id=69IDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA67&dq=%22Canyon+Missteps%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_5ISPmPPqAhWej3IEHRlcDQ4Q6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=%22Canyon%20Missteps%22&f=false, accessed April 3, 2019
Eveleth, Rose; “This Pink Snow Is Not What You
Think it Is”, July 11, 2013, [© 2020 Smithsonian Magazine], https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-pink-snow-is-not-what-you-think-it-is-9651061/, accessed July 14, 2020
Fiegl, Amanda; “Eating Snow”, February 4,
2010, [© 2020 Smithsonian Magazine], https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/eating-snow-79389622/, accessed July 27, 2020
Frazer, Jennifer; “Wonderful Things: Don't Eat
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Joyce, Christopher;
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Marshall, Miri; “Watermelon snow: Sounds good,
but you may not want to eat it. Here's why”, November 15, 2019, [© 2020
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Redwic; “Exploring The Mystery Of Watermelon Snow”, [© 2006-2020 SummitPost.org], https://www.summitpost.org/exploring-the-mystery-of-watermelon-snow/640549, accessed July 29, 2020
Stibal,
Marek; Elster, Josef; Šabacká, Marie; Kaštovská, Klára; “Seasonal and diel changes in
photosynthetic activity of the snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis (Chlorophyceae)
from Svalbard determined by pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry”, FEMS Microbiology Ecology,
Volume 59, Issue 2, February 1, 2007, Pages 265-273, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00264.x,
accessed August 1, 2020
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from Colorado Rockies, Season Three, Episode Two, November 14, 2008], https://youtu.be/zsBFPB5LXL8, accessed July 11, 2020
Wiesholtz, Drew; “Red-colored 'watermelon
snow' found at Yosemite National Park”, August 7, 2019, [© 2020 NBC Universal],
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