Monday, April 30, 2012

Crystal Clear But Dead Inside





These photos look absolutely amazing, but do you notice anything strange about them? Where are all the fish and marine plants that usually live in mountain rivers like Verzasca? Apparently there are none… I read somewhere that the high transparency of the river water is caused by high acidity, which also makes it impossible for any organisms to thrive there. So while Verzasca River may be a great place to take surreal photographs, it’s basically dead, and that makes it a little to creepy for me. That’s pretty strange, right? Although I known there’s nothing living in the river to be afraid of, that thought alone scares me even more…

3 comments:

Bersercules said...

It scares me too! But it would be a great place to film a movie!

Hobgoblin238 said...

All they have to do is dump a load of baking soda into the water....Acidity is much reduced then!

leesa said...

It seems the idea that this River is dead has become a bit of an urban legend... maybe from peoples very similar comments. A lot has been cut-and-pasted without any research:

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/photographer-captures-beauty-of-crystal-clear-swiss-river-from-50-feet-deep.html

Dead? Not true.

Some of the most severe environments on Earth have Life... places where Scientists figured Life was at best minimal... Ocean Vents where the water boils... and frozen tundra... have amazing thriving living things.

The Verzasca River is definitely alive... in many ways... even with "ordinary" stuff like fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3WbXkL0qzA