Hippo Draped in Water Hyacinth
Caption: Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) surfaces through a blanket of water hyacinth covering a section of the Letaba River, Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Camera: Canon EOS 450D (Canon Rebel XSi 12.2MP); Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM; Focal Length: 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/100; Aperture: f/8; ISO: 400.
Left: Another hippo emerges from the water draped in water hyacinth, showing the extent of the weed in this section of river, where it extends from bank to bank.
Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), while looking quite pretty with its green leaves and mauve flowers is a rampant invasive alien, widely recognized as one of the world’s worst weeds.
The plant is a native of the Amazon, but tolerates a wide range of climatic and aquatic conditions, allowing infestation across a range of latitudes and climates.
When uncontrolled, water hyacinth will quickly blanket entire dams, lakes and stretches of river, dramatically impeding water flow, blocking sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants, starving the water of oxygen and leading to death of fish and turtles.
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+Scotch Macaskill
To control water hyacinth, you must profit from its harvest. It is all biomass, waiting to be biofuel, livestock feed, compost or usable fiber. You can briquette into biomass briquettes for fuel, burn them in new low pollution stoves that produce charcoal as a byproduct, and use that charcoal for biochar or fuel. You can digest it into fuel gas. Overuse and deplete this resource!
Thanks Stephen, had no idea it could be used and depleted like this. Not sure though how difficult, and costly, it is to harvest. Haven’t heard of any government action along these lines in South Africa but would assume the scientists have been working on it, particularly if the hyacinth can power stoves in rural communities and produce charcoal as a byproduct.
Very Interesting photos and post…thanks for sharing!
How beautiful the hippo is! Incredibly beautiful animal! So huge and so funny!