Expedice 2015

Water Holes in the Deserts of the Outback

The gorges are popular destinations in the heart of Australia. That’s what the Australians call the canyons which often have water at the bottom. Normal tourists admire the water, sometimes have a refreshing swim and head on. Our gang unpacked our landing nets and water tests, entered the water and took photos of everything which had fins or legs and which swam, crawled or hopped around. The tourists there kept asking us what we were doing. Some of the water holes had very clear water, so we were able to take beautiful underwater pictures of the biotopes, which formed the living space of many rainbow fish. Interesting was also the low water temperature of max. 24 °C at an air temperature of 28-37 °C. This indicates that the water holes must have a source which feeds fresh and cold groundwater. Otherwise they would soon dry up in the dry season. Yet there are water holes for which the on-site researchers couldn’t determine the water source. For bird lovers the water holes were a paradise too. Parakeets, cockatoos, zebra finches and even birds of prey often allowed us to approach close enough to take some beautiful photos.