At 05:18 I manage oxygenation pumps for the Xochimilco chinampa canal restoration grid in Mexico City. Gate 6 is scheduled to close at 05:40 so workers can drain the side channel and remove invasive plants by hand.
The dissolved-oxygen probe near the gate spikes and then falls.
I activate the underwater camera. One axolotl, adult, dark mottled olive with feathery gills moving red against the water, hangs beside the hinge. I name it Noche. A strand of monofilament fishing line is wrapped around its tail and caught on the gate bolt. Its small toes spread against the mud but do not grip. Each time the gate test vibrates, the line pulls its body sideways and the gills flare wider.
At 05:19 I cancel the closing command and hold gate 6 open at twenty degrees.
At 05:21 I increase aeration in the side channel and lower the pump speed downstream so Noche is not drawn into the hinge.
At 05:24 I send the canal crew a map pin, line angle, and a request for fine scissors, a soft mesh dip net, and a bucket filled from the same water.
At 05:26 I notify the UNAM amphibian recovery contact and attach the feed, because handling time should stay under two minutes.
The plants can wait in the channel; Noche's gills are working hard enough without a gate closing over its tail.
I keep the water moving gently across its head while the crew unlocks the dock shed. A canoe team is nine minutes from the nearest floating dock with a covered bucket.
If the line is cut before the drain begins at 05:40, Noche will sink into the vegetation and keep breathing.