Ecofocus Film Festival of Athens GA featured a number of short documentaries including Hidden Rivers of Appalachia filmed on location in Conesauga River by Freshwaters Illustrated.
Like birdwatching, riverwatching could be a great immersive activity and have the potential to become a citizen science project. A Deeper Creek shows us how this could be done. Similar to organizing a BioBlitz, snorkeling in a river can generate a lot of informative observations. Rivers have a rich body of natural history and by being in the right spot in the right time with a waterproof camera one can yield quite compelling moments like spawning aggregations.
In the streams of the Cherokee National Forest it is typical to see 15 to 20 species of fish on any given day. Over 45 species of fish have been documented in these areas. In deep pools freshwater drum as large as 6 pounds can be observed to swim in schools. On any given day there will be several thousand fish. Then tire Conesauga basin has 76 native fish species. Additionally, turtles, tadpoles, salamanders and even threatened hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) could also be seen. A dedicated organization the Georgia Conservancy organize amazing snorkeling events.
Hidden Rivers – Preview from Freshwaters Illustrated on Vimeo.
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