The Shadow
There are more than 4,000 satellites circling the Earth, and one photographing terrain to document melting ice discovered an unidentified structure that turned out to be the largest known beaver dam on Earth.
Located in Alberto, Canada’s Wood Buffalo National Park, the beaver dam stretches more than half a mile, creating a large wetland that serves other creatures.
The satellite that discovered the longest beaver dam on Earth was launched to help scientists working for Google Earth and NASSA measure melting ice.
The beaver dam holds back the runoff water from melting ice, and its length has been documented to extend 2,788’ (850) meters.
Discovered in the southernmost section of Wood Buffalo National Park by the orbiting satellite, the beaver dam is instrumental in impacting the ecosystem, protecting the beavers from wolves, bears and other predators while creating a safe haven for other wildlife.
Previously, the longest beaver dam ever discovered was in Three Forks, Mont., and the heaviest beaver weighed in at 110 lbs. Beavers build at night, using their forepaws to haul rocks and mud. They use their teeth for cutting down saplings and trees that they carry while swimming to the dam by using their teeth to clamp onto them.
A study conducted by scientists in Great Britain discovered that a high percentage of the sediment that flows into a beaver’s pond is retained and does not flow past it, creating cleaner water downstream from the beaver dam while reducing the velocity of the stream’s flow.
Beavers have been introduced to rivers and streams to reduce pollution, and it has been documented that beavers reduce nitrogen pollution.
Between 1760 and 1860 beavers were nearly extirpated in North America where an estimated population of between 100 million and 200 million were trapped for their pelts.
Beavers have been known to grow in height to more than two feet, and they rely on their chisel-like incisors to feed on tree bark, brush, and aquatic plants. They are the largest rodents in North America.
A beaver comeback has been made possible by protective laws, and there are an estimated 15 million beavers in North America today.
To put the size of the beaver dam in Wood Buffalo National Park into perspective, it is more than twice the length of Hoover Dam that measures 1,244’ from one side to the other.
