Moscow International Festival of Mountaineering and Adventure Films "Vertical"
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Seventh Festival "Vertical"

The Enigma Of The Black Caiman

Category: Mountain and wild nature
Year: 2003
Time: 52 min
Country: France
Camera-man: Luc Riolon, Gerard Sergent
Director: Luc Riolon

Subject: Inaccessible and hence unspoiled by human presence, the Kaw Swamp in French Guina remains an ecological mystery. Next to nothing is known of its fauna. its flora or its waters, lying stagnant for thousands of years. The swamp appears to be one of the last sanctuaries for the black caiman. Specimens measuring over five meters long have been reported there. Yet the swamp water, being poorly oxygenated and rich in carbon dioxide, would not seem a very favorable environment for life to flourish. Scientists are faced with real with a real enigma. How indeed can you explain the presence and survival of these enormous caimans, the ultimate predators, without any apparent trace of plankton, the first indispensable link in food chain.


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The Enigma Of The Black Caiman