Greater flamingos in Walvis Bay, Namibia

© Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott/Minden Pictures

Greater flamingos in Walvis Bay, Namibia

If you go fishing or work in the shipyards at Walvis Bay in Namibia, scenes like this aren’t uncommon. Greater flamingos wade into the surf to feed on plankton. They’re unlikely to visit nearby Bird Island though. That ‘island’ was built by humans and attracts many cape cormorants. Brave people harvest the cormorant droppings on Bird Island and resell the guano as highly valuable fertiliser.