The Great Daphnia Hunt

On the 5th April 2003, nine intrepid members of Strood & District Aquarist Society undertook their great expedition. The aim was to find the elusive daphnia. Bright and early (well at 10.30 am) club members began the long trek to the Shorne marshes. After successfully negotiating an unmanned level crossing without major loss of personnel, we walked the concrete road for about two miles to the marsh where numerous small ponds abound. Chairman Ken led the main party with nets and buckets much in evidence.

Whilst at the tail of the column Liz and John Pell admired the scenery and generally dawdled.

Ken demonstrated how not to catch Daphnia by keeping an eye on the photographer, instead of what he was supposed to be doing.

Eventually he managed to catch a reasonably large container full.

Shelley and Paul discussed where they would put the five or six Daphnia that Bob Lemmon was actively chasing with a 4 inch net.

Fortunately, the large Daphnia nets of Ken and Pete came to the rescue allowing Bob to take a welcome break.

Just watching activity these days, makes Bob feel exhausted. Having had several days’ warm weather with plenty of sunshine, the ponds had warmed up so daphnia was fairly plentiful. Hopefully, if the weather holds, we should soon be able to collect in addition to daphnia, large amounts of mosquito larvae. On the way back, Colin Bird and Pam Boyle were seen talking to a herd of beefies. (No picture, the cows were too shy!).

The expedition ended in the traditional Strood manner with the members retiring to a local hostelry for sustenance before undertaking the arduous homeward journey.

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