Lesley de Souza, a research biologist at John G. Shedd Aquarium, writes from Guyana, where she studies the region?s rich aquatic wildlife, including the arapaima, one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world.
Feb. 17, 2013
My heavy heart catches me off guard as I prepare to leave Rewa.? I have been captivated by the combination of a people, place and fish for the last few months.? Many of the villagers stand atop the riverbank and wave goodbye as we make our journey to the landing strip by boat.? We approach the runway, and I welcome the deafening buzz of the bush plane?s propeller, as it seems to quiet my emotions.?We take off, and I look back to the vast, expansive forests and meandering rivers that I have had the pleasure of living in.
I reflect on my time in Rewa, what we have accomplished, and what is yet ahead for arapaima conservation as I make my journey back to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.? I was met with great skepticism when I first approached some of the villagers about tagging arapaima with radio transmitters: ?The challenges are greater than you think, Lesley. These fish are bigger than you; how will you handle them long enough to perform surgery? Some of these ponds are dangerous. Will you get in the water??
A conversation with two local guides, Terry Haynes and Winston Edwards, reawakened my courage.? They said: ?Lesley, we have to try.? This research could be important for us.?
The importance of arapaima to local Amerindian communities and their larger ecological function underscores the urgent need to refine and implement a management plan.? Using radio telemetry to track arapaima migration patterns is a novel approach, a technique that will allow Shedd Aquarium and its partners to quantify and qualify the importance of habitats for feeding and reproduction in both the dry and wet seasons.? This type of high-quality ecological data is critical to generate this plan for arapaima conservation.
Over the last three months my crew and I tagged 20 arapaima with radio transmitters for tracking.? The fish are a mix of juveniles and adults spread throughout ponds, oxbows and main river channels along the Rewa and Rupununi Rivers.? It is too soon to elucidate overall migration routes, but various movement patterns are emerging among these tagged fish during this short time. There seems to be consistent movement from the fish as the water levels fluctuate. When water levels remain constant, they are more stationary.? We tracked several of the individuals that are more than five feet long to deep pools in the river channel, where they remain.? Other tagged fish were found rolling with a partner, a behavior that Amerindian guides say suggests mating.
I have successfully reached my goals for the first phase of this research: tagging and tracking arapaima during the dry season.? Rovin Alvin and Winston Edwards have shown great interest in the research and have offered to continue tracking until I return at the start of the rains, in late April or early May.? In the interim, I will be compiling the data from the first phase and preparing for the rainy season phase from the aquarium.
Naturally, my Amerindian colleagues assure me that greater challenges lie ahead.? Even something as simple as getting gas will become challenging in the rainy season. The roads become flooded by the steady rains. Traveling by boat, we?ll lose the open expanse of the river and maneuver instead through a flooded forest. The jungle becomes one large floodplain with no boundaries. Where will the arapaima go? How will I find them?? Not to mention the abundance of biting insects.? It can be miserable, I am told.
I feel a hint of discomfort when I visualize being inundated by hungry mosquitoes or cabora flies, but I resist thinking about it further.? I will overcome those challenges as I am confronted with them.? For now, the United States lies ahead ? and maybe a milkshake or two.
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