Looking for Lake Edib T e following morning, Star Boy and I set out into the forest. I carried my cameras, gill nets, dip nets, and anything I thought that I’d need in the field. Star Boy carried the traps and our food supplies. He also held my jug of ethanol, a chemical I use for preserving fish. For the rest of the day, we hiked through
the rain forest in the rain. T en we spent the night in a hunting camp. We huddled for warmth around a meager fire until morning came. T e next day, I got my first view of Lake
Edib. It was tucked into a steep, rocky crater, surrounded by forest. T e terrain was so overgrown, we had to hack our way down into the crater. At the bottom, we found ourselves
blocked by elephant grass. As we pushed our way through the tall, swampy grasses, the water level began to rise. First, it topped our rain boots, then our
belts. Before long, we were chest-deep in the water. Finally, we reached the edge of open water. We pushed the grasses aside to get a view of the lake itself. T e water was black and still. I reached
out to touch it. T en I turned to get my gear. When I looked down, I realized I was covered with blood-sucking leeches! Star Boy and I knocked the leeches off
our legs. T en it hit me: I hadn’t begun my sampling yet. I would be spending the next week at Edib, fighting off swamp grass and nasty leeches. I suddenly became much less excited about sampling Lake Edib.
22 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
Sampling the Lake For the next week, we searched for fish. I sampled with traps and nets. I placed my traps around the edge of the lake. T en I threw my cast net from the bank. I waded into the water. T en I used my dip net to work through the underwater vegetation. T ere were no boats or canoes at Edib.
So I swam my gill nets across the lake. I checked them twice a day wearing my mask and snorkel. I spent three days studying the insects living in or near the lake. I collected hundreds of creepy crawlers. And every time I went in the water, I came out with a fresh coat of leeches. Sadly, we didn’t catch a single fish. It turned out Lake Edib was fishless. T at’s bad news for a guy who studies fish.
WORDWISE
aquatic invertebrate: small animals, such as insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and worms that live in water
crater lake: a body of water fi lling a circular, steep-sided volcanic crater
ichthyologist: a person who studies fi sh speciation: the formation of new species
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