Экспедиция 2016 Венесуэла

The Water Lily Camp

It was rarely the case that the natives on-site did understand what we wanted, when we asked for places with clear water. They showed us places where they considered the water was clear, but which we thought was incredibly cloudy. So we changed strategy and asked for places where we could find aquatic plants. This idea was successful and we reached a camp which was no longer in use where the water was slightly clearer than at any of the other locations we had visited at the delta. The visibility was at about 60 cm which doesn’t sound very much. But in the shallow water of the embankment it was at least good enough to be able to really observe the plants and fish. We observed X-ray fish (Pristella maxillaris), pike cichlids (Crenicichla), Leaffishes (Polycentridae) and even suckermouth armoured catfishes (Loricariidae) there! This worked until the first snorkeler came up to tell the others about the discoveries. That was the end then and the visibility was worse than ever. Fortunately there was a bit of a current and the visibility was restored after about 30 minutes.

The snail enthusiasts were absolutely amazed: algaevorous snails (Neritina) which always had been regarded as an Asian species were there in large amounts! Their concise white eggs were there sticking to the wood. As is known these snails need brackish water for successful reproduction. Although the water had a slightly higher general hardness degree of 28 °dGH, 0 °dKH and a pH value of 4.5 are not really typical for brackish water.

A lot of us were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the underwater pictures because our subjective impression during the snorkelling had been worse than the pictures showed. So here comes some information about the camera settings: camera Canon EOS 5 D with EF 1:4 17-40 mm L USM lense with close-up lens +4 in the underwater housing from BS Kinetics with small domeport. All pictures without a flash. The ISO setting was raised with 1600 to its maximum. Of course this made the pictures a bit grainy. Through the high ISO setting you still reach shutter speeds of 1/200 sec and aperture values between 10 and 13 in the programme mode with manual underexposure.This way the pictures have a certain depth of field and the fast moving fish, such as tetras are not (too) blurred.

Экспедиция 2016 Венесуэла

JBL Expedition 2016 Venezuela

The Water Lily Camp

PUSH-уведомления от JBL

Экспедиция 2016 Венесуэла

JBL Expedition 2016 Venezuela

The Water Lily Camp

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