Field Notes
January - February 2012: Orinoco River, Venezuela and Amazon River, Brazil
"An overarching element of the trip is the linking of WHRC scientists focusing on river water chemistry, with those focusing on hydrologic modeling. This is a natural and obvious connection to make..."
– Dr. Max Holmes
Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are not on vacation. We work in some of the most amazing places on Earth, asking the most important questions we can think of. Our work combines hard-core science with adventure and exploration – we are incredibly fortunate to work at Woods Hole Research Center, and to get to do what we are doing.
The “we” in this case is Mike Coe (Senior Scientist), Max Holmes (Senior Scientist), Rob Spencer (Assistant Scientist) and Chris Linder (freelance photographer/videographer from Seattle). We are on a 12-day trip to the world’s first and third largest rivers (the Amazon River in Brazil and Orinoco River in Venezuela). The goal for the Orinoco leg of our trip is to get a feel for this remarkable river, meet with local scientists, and explore possibilities for collaborative research. None of us have been here before.
On the Amazon, where we already have collaborative research projects with Brazilian scientists, we will meet with our partners and plan future activities, but it has been slow to develop largely because the chemistry and modeling groups have had separate funding sources and different study sites. Fortunately, a recent grant from the Harbourton Foundation to Holmes, Coe, and Spencer to work on the Amazon River has demolished those barriers.
The Orinoco River is the world's third largest river in terms of discharge. Here it mixes with the Caroni River. Photo Credit: Chris Linder.
Day 1 (Monday, January 23): We left Cape Cod at 3:30 am in below freezing temperatures with snow on the ground. After 20 hours of travel, including brief stops in Miami and Caracas, Venezuela, we arrive in Ciudad Bolivar – a Venezuelan city near the mouth of the Orinoco River. Hitting our beds in thatched-roof cabanas was the reward for a long day of travel.
Day 2 (Tuesday, January 24): Our activities began at 6 am. After a quick cup of coffee and a bite to eat, we then stuffed the team and our gear into an aging Land Cruiser, and headed off to the Orinoco River to meet the boat we had chartered for our four-day trip down the river. The plan was to see as much of the river as possible, meet with local scientists from the Foundation LaSalle in the downstream city of Puerto Ordaz, and then to return to Ciudad Bolivar four days later for the second leg of our journey.
Things don’t always go as planned. In fact, in the locations in which we work, things usually don’t go as planned, and this trip was no exception. Picturing a large boat with bunks for six – as we had been told – we were surprised when our captain arrived in a small open boat. After considerable confusion and frustration we decided to use the boat for the day and then to explore alternatives for the remaining days. For a day trip, the smaller boat worked very well. We ventured about 40 km upstream of Ciudad Bolivar, gaining an appreciation of the Lower Orinoco River. At the end of the day we returned to the place we had stayed the night before. We spent the evening planning our next few days.
Day 3 (Wednesday, January 25): Today we drove to Puerto Ordaz, a major city about 90 km downstream of Ciudad Bolivar. The objective was to meet with Luzmila Sanchez, a scientist at the Foundation LaSalle who works on the Orinoco River as well as other rivers and lakes in the region. The drive to Puerto Ordaz crosses a stunning savannah landscape before crossing the Caroni River, a beautiful major blackwater tributary. Thereafter we entered the city. After a busy morning discussing the Orinoco River with Dr. Sanchez and several of her colleagues, they took us to visit several locations that may be suitable for future sampling. As we traveled around Puerto Ordaz we crossed the Orinoco on a ferry, which offered a stunning vista of this vast river as it heads out to its delta and the ocean. We also observed from a vantage point the mixing of the comparatively sediment-laden Orinoco main stem with the blackwater Caroni River (see photo at top). The clear demarcation between the two systems is apparent as they run parallel to one another in the same channel before finally mixing far downriver. After a highly productive day meeting with local scientists we headed back to Ciudad Bolivar. Tonight we pack our equipment and get ready to head south toward some of the Orinoco headwaters.
Day 4 (Thursday, January 26): We board a small Cessna airplane for our one-hour flight to Canaima National Park, home to stunning rivers and waterfalls within the Orinoco River watershed. We saw remarkably beautiful sights upon arrival, including intensely colored water full of dissolved organic carbon. This leg of our trip only happened because our four-day trip on the Orinoco didn’t work out – at this point we are very happy with the revised plan. Not only did we get to spend some time on the Orinoco River and meet with Luzmila Sanchez – a potential collaborator for future research – but we are also seeing several extraordinary tributaries of the Orinoco.
Day 5 (Friday, January 27): Each day becomes more remarkable. Today we awoke early and loaded into a wooden dugout canoe for a four-hour trip up the Carrao and Churun rivers. Our final destination was Angel Falls – the highest waterfall on earth. All of these rivers are the color of black tea, indicating that they have very high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon. It took all of our restraint not to collect water samples, but we didn’t because we lack the required permissions. We look forward to doing so next time!
Day 6-7 (Saturday-Sunday, January 28-29): Our plan was to awake early for the one-hr flight from Canaimo to Santa Elena. Unfortunately, rain and clouds made that flight impossible, so we ended up flying back to Ciudad Bolivar and then taking a twelve-hour overnight bus to Santa Elena. Immediately after arriving, we jumped into a taxi for the three-hour ride across the border to Brazil and an airport in Boa Vista. We’re here now, waiting for our flight to Manaus, from where we will head to our final destination at Santarem.
The team's transport was not quite what they expected but it turned out to work very well for the day. Photo Credit: Chris Linder.
Dr. Spencer surveys the Orinoco River. Photo Credit: Chris Linder.
