Sahara Dunes Meet the Atlantic Shallows

Sahara Dunes Meet the Atlantic Shallows is an original illustration set in Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is hot desert — evaporation far outruns rainfall.

Pale apricot dunes descend without a strip of vegetation to a narrow beach and a broad turquoise bay. Curving sandbanks divide the shallows into pale green flats and deeper tidal channels. Pink flamingos wade beside resting white pelicans, while a small triangular sail rises offshore. A low bank of fog lies over the darker ocean beyond the sunlit coast.

Why does the Sahara end in shallow, bird-filled water with almost no rain?

The Sahara reaches the Atlantic here because proximity to the sea does not guarantee rain. Subtropical descending air suppresses rainfall, while cool water associated with the Canary Current and coastal upwelling stabilizes the air near the surface; moisture can condense as low fog without developing into rain clouds. Inside the sheltered bay, shallow tidal flats and seagrass beds support rich food webs that feed large numbers of migratory birds. Bare dunes beside productive, bird-filled shallows distinguish Banc d'Arguin from the inland desert.

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