EXPLORING AT A LOCAL CREEK IN KOREA 2019
While on my holiday in Korea just now I was reminded of one of the factors that kick-started me to this hobby whilst taking my nephew down to the local creek to check out the aquatic life.
From a very young age I can remember being drawn to creeks, rivers, lakes and pretty much any water body be it fresh or salt water. Part of my experience from this early age was capturing, collecting, identifying and in some cases bringing them home to my own aquariums to keep and observe, others I used to draw and some we even ate!
My nephew and I spent a great afternoon dip netting and catching the different aquatic life in his local mountain creek. I was quite surprised with the diverse range of species we found in what initially looked like a storm-water drain but in fact after closer examination water quality and clarity was quite pristine. We ended up catching 3 species of fish, several snail species, 1 shrimp species, insect larvae, frogs, tadpoles and some kind of predatory water beetle (check out pics of some of our captures). We missed out on many larger fish that were just too fast for our kiddy dip nets. We later visited the local public aquarium and identified them all which was another great learning experience (see attached pics).
We ended up taking some home and setting up a makeshift aquarium (in a big 10L pastic bottle). My nephew will take all these aquatic life to school and show his classmates and hopefully inspire another generation to this great hobby. They will then be released back to where they we caught.
Some of these fish would make excellent aquarium candidates and seem to be very hardy and quite pretty.
So next time you're free, get the kids out of the house and explore the aquatic environment. Who knows what you will find! Worst case you will have an enjoyable afternoon in the sun getting wet!
Australia is renowned for having some of the best fishing locations in the world. They are extremely valuable to the communities and state governments, so please check with your local fisheries office for any restrictions or regulations in your area.
Julian Wong B.Sc. Hons
JMW International Pty. Ltd. t/as Aquatic Solutions
