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Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune
Whenthestormpassed,therewasthepan—agiantovaldepressionsomethreehundredkilometersonthelongaxis—aglaringwhitesurpriseintheopendesert.Kyneslanded,tastedthepan’sstorm-cleanedsurface.
Salt.
Now,hewascertain.
There’dbeenopenwateronArrakis—once.Hebeganreexaminingtheevidenceofthedrywellswheretricklesofwaterhadappearedandvanished,nevertoreturn.
KynessethisnewlytrainedFremenlimnologisttowork:theirchiefclue,leatheryscrapsofmattersometimesfoundwiththespice-massafterablow.Thishadbeenascribedtoafictional“sandtrout”inFremenfolkstories.Asfactsgrewintoevidence,acreatureemergedtoexplaintheseleatheryscraps—asandswimmerthatblockedoffwaterintofertilepocketswithintheporouslowerstratabelowthe280°(absolute)line.
This“water-stealer”diedbythemillionsineachspice-blow.Afive-degreechangeintemperaturecouldkillit.Thefewsurvivorsenteredasemidormantcyst-hibernationtoemergeinsixyearsassmall(aboutthreemeterslong)sandworms.Ofthese,onlyafewavoidedtheirlargerbrothersandpre-spicewaterpocketstoemergeintomaturityasthegiantshai-hulud.(Waterispoisonoustoshai-huludastheFremenhadlongknownfromdrowningtherare“stuntedworm”oftheMinorErgtoproducetheawareness-spectrumnarcotictheycallWaterofLife.The“stuntedworm”isaprimitiveformofshai-huludthatreachesalengthofonlyaboutninemeters.
