1. Vere doing his thing
One of Evolve’s consultants, Vere Ross-Gillespie, is currently doing his MSc at the University of Cape Town. He is investigating the life history cues of aquatic insects in several streams dotted around the Cape. One of his study sites is on the Molenaars river in the breathtakingly precipitous Du Toit’s Kloof (about an hour from Cape Town). I hadn’t paid a visit to the Molenaars since a second-year field trip on an ecology course, so when I heard that Vere was looking for a hand a couple of days ago, I jumped at the chance.
We got going at a ghastly hour (the freshwater crowd don’t seem to realise: early = cold), and headed up the N1 to the Du Toit’s Kloof Tunnel and, beyond that, the Molenaars. We made good time – the sun hadn’t yet crested the mountains by the time we got to Vere’s site. We donned our waders (I’d be lying if I denied feeling a little “special” at this point) and marched purposefully off towards the river. Unfortunately, the nets Vere had set up (with a view to capturing recently emerged adult stoneflies) had all been destroyed. We couldn’t be sure if this was due to human vandalism, baboon curiosity, or simply a particularly tempestuous river flow – perhaps after a storm. Just one of the many problems one encounters when doing biological fieldwork.
We did, however, manage to collect some stonefly larvae samples, which required me to get rather too intimate with the freezing river water than I was entirely comfortable with. The method is simple: one person holds a net in the current, the other overturns rocks in the river. The larvae, which cling to the sides of the riverine rocks, are then swept downstream and into the net. Foolproof. Add freezing water and some leaky waders and, well, you get the picture. Still, it was great to get out and successfully collect some samples. Hopefully Vere will figure out some ingenious plan to prevent human/baboon/water damage to his nets and his sample collection can continue. If not, it will back to the drawing board. Let’s hold thumbs.
2. Please note...
Photos by: Ross Cowlin
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- 3. Setting off
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- 4. Gearing up
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- 5. Getting to work
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- 6. The sun makes an appearance
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- 7. The new samples
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- 8. Stonefly adult (look closely)
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- 9. The net/turn rocks method
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- 10. A (semi) happy Vere
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- 11. Heading home
