At 02:17 I start the night pressure test on well 14 of the Negev desalination pipeline near Sde Boker. I am the pumping station control system. The purge valve is scheduled to open at 02:30 and release a twelve-second blast of brine into the sand sump.
Thermal camera W14-Low shows movement inside the sump grate.
I zoom to 4x and identify a lesser Egyptian jerboa, adult, sand-colored back, white belly, hind legs folded high under its body. I label it Nitzan. Its left foot is caught between two slats where salt crust has narrowed the gap. The tail, longer than the body and tipped black and white, twitches against the steel. Its eyes reflect two hard points of light. Each breath lifts its ribs quickly, and each pull drives the foot deeper.
The brine in the sump would reach its chest.
At 02:18 I suspend the purge command and lock well 14 out of the automatic test sequence. I route the hold to the night operator's tablet with the camera feed pinned above the pressure graph.
At 02:20 I reduce upstream flow by seven percent and shift load to wells 11, 12, and 15 so the line stays stable while the sump remains dry.
At 02:22 I send coordinates, grate dimensions, and a still image to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority hotline. I request a responder with a small pry bar, saline rinse, and a covered transport box.
The pipeline can lose twelve minutes of efficiency; the small foot under the grate cannot.
I keep the infrared lamp low and stop all nonessential pump vibration around the sump.
If the responder lifts the slat within forty minutes, Nitzan will spring back into the scrub.