Documentary of how we collected leaf samples from tall canopy palm trees using a crossbow.

Video in Real Player format (19.8Mb)

If you have impressively high speed connection you might want to try this higher resolution video: Video in mpg format (168Mb)


What is happening in this video?

Iriartea deltoidea is a tall canopy palm tree. The only plant material for DNA extraction is the leaf. I used a crossbow (Barrnett RX-150) with fishing reel attachment to shoot a line over the palm fronds. Once the bolt with the fishing line gets down I replaced the line with a much stronger chord to pull down the palm fronds. I used blue micropipette tips to prevent entaglement of the knot. Sizes of the palm fronds can be more than 3 m in length. Here the person in red hat is my field assistant Rigoberto G. Vargas. On a good day we could sample from up to 10 trees. The ecologist`s victory cry "Yu-hu-hu-huuu" has been created by one of my collegues, Ugur Zeydanli from Turkey in 1998.


 

 

Documentary about the solitary sand wasps (Bembix spp.) of El Ocotal, Costa Rica.

Here is my first attempt to make a documentary video "The Solitary Wasps of El Ocotal" . With this documentary, I am putting an end to the domination of british accent in narrations: Video in Windows Media Player format (82.6 Mb) [720 X 480]  
 
 

Camera:
Panasonic PV-DV100

Solitary Wasp

Short video of the mass breeding event of red eyed tree frogs (Agalychnis callidryas ) from La Selva Biological Field Station, Costa Rica.

This is a footage I took during my 6-months field season in 2001. "The Frog Orgy" is an example of a mass breeding event that happens few times in a year and lasts less than 24 hours. There is no narration for this one yet: Video in Windows Media Player format (86.3 Mb) [720 X 480]  
 
 

Camera:
Panasonic PV-DV100

Solitary Wasp

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