Waitomo

Looks like a night sky, but it's actually the ceiling of a cave.

Waitomo is a place where the ground is made of karst, thus the rocks are easily eroded by water. This creates deep caves and underground river systems. This is the preferred habitat of the New Zealand Glowworms. This larvae lives suspended in a silk hammock from where it drops several sticky threads. It lures prey by emitting a bio-luminescent light. Once an insect get stuck in the thread, the larvae real in the silk like a fishing line and eat the victim. The caves found in Waitomo are covered by a constellation of glowworms that make them look like a starry night.

Sticky silk thread produced by the glowworms.

Taking pictures from a moving boat on an underground river can give some nice effect.

Bush around Waitomo.



Comments

  1. Anonymous16 May, 2018 12:39

    Belles photos dans la caverne ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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