I Found The Fabled Hot Springs!

[natalie265]

I would guess the dimension of the pond to be about 20 feet long and 15 feet wide.

I've wondered about the food source myself. There were plenty of small fry, also algae and insects, although most of the insects will probably die off when it gets colder. Apparently locals occasionally feed them bread crumbs.

The way i found it is just by asking around and getting lucky. When i saw the photos on the original thread i thought it looked like Utah (where i live), so i started asking about it--just bringing it up in conversation to see if anyone had heard of it. Recently, i took a vacation to a neighboring state and mentioned it to the person i was staying with. He was like, "That's HERE!". He had never been, but called a friend who gave us directions. It turns out it was a two hour drive from the small town i was staying in. It's right off of a dirt road, so it isn't like you have to hike five miles through rugged terrain, i mean you can drive right up to it, but it's really far from anything that resembles civilization.

 

[mr130gallon]

holy crap that is so awesome!!! i wish i had something like that in manitoba, but it gets to -40°C here so it would have to have good geothermal heating

 

[mr130gallon]

have you been to it again?

 

[mini_matt]

please please please get an underwater camera or a case for your camera! does anyone know anywhere like this in uk ? would love to go see something like that!

 

[rebrn]

I am dying to know where it is, just so I can see it for myself, but I completely understand and agree with keeping it a secret.

As for those debating the wonder or menace of this pond, I just have to say, we have to keep it secret whethor to protect it or to protect the environment from it. While I agree with not introducing foriegn species to the wild, one only needs to look to Austraila to see how well that works. This pond is isolated, and hopefully somewhat protected from spilling the "unnaturalness" of it out into the main environment. We simply have to ensure that it stays isolated to ensure that these adapted species do not infiltrate the main water system causing a potential environmential catastrpoy. On the other side, it has probably taking many many many years for these fish to adapt to this environment which is undoublty unnatural to them. However, now over the many many years this is now thier natural environment, it is called evolution, and it is our responsibility to protect it, espically since we humans forced these fish to evolve in the first place.

Ok rant over, awesome find, would love to see it for my self, it looks beautiful, not just the pond but the landscape as well.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[snowflake311]

There are a few places like this in utah one were they have lots of saltwater fish you can scuba dive with.

These springs are not natrual these fish really should not be there in the first place IMO. Yes they are cool but should not be there. It's unlawful to put fish from your aquarium in these hot springs.

 

[Canis-Equus]

So nice to see the pics, I posted in the original thread but clearly, I saw a shiny thing and wandered off before the pics got posted.

There are places in the UK where tropical and ornamental species survive - however in my experience these are very man made situations.

The two I know of, one is the ponds that take the outfall of water used for cooling a dye works, the water is warm and cosistantly tropical temps. Since i posted on the original thread though, ive been told that a lot of terrapins have been releaseed there,. so how many fish survive i couldnt say! I also have not been there for over ten years.

The other place is a disused quarry which is filled by natural springs. It is extremely deep and very sheltered and supports a pretty large population of koi, goldfish and i suspect sturlets and probably plecs.

 

[bae1994]

So nice to see the pics, I posted in the original thread but clearly, I saw a shiny thing and wandered off before the pics got posted.

There are places in the UK where tropical and ornamental species survive - however in my experience these are very man made situations.

The two I know of, one is the ponds that take the outfall of water used for cooling a dye works, the water is warm and cosistantly tropical temps. Since i posted on the original thread though, ive been told that a lot of terrapins have been releaseed there,. so how many fish survive i couldnt say! I also have not been there for over ten years.

The other place is a disused quarry which is filled by natural springs. It is extremely deep and very sheltered and supports a pretty large population of koi, goldfish and i suspect sturlets and probably plecs.

were please pm me and tell me these two places location i need another family trip

 

[meguro]

While I agree with not introducing foriegn species to the wild, one only needs to look to Austraila to see how well that works.

I don't see any sarcasm here so I'd just like to say that camels, rabbits and cane toads are a few of the introduced species that are now pests.

 

[three-fingers]

While I agree with not introducing foriegn species to the wild, one only needs to look to Austraila to see how well that works.

I don't see any sarcasm here so I'd just like to say that camels, rabbits and cane toads are a few of the introduced species that are now pests.

Really? Clearly meant to be sarcasm to me, though phrased a bit wrong due to the "while".

Loved the last thread, love this one too, hoping for more pics and vids.

 

[meguro]

Really? Clearly meant to be sarcasm to me, though phrased a bit wrong due to the "while".

Your interpretation is neither more, or less, valid than mine.

 

[three-fingers]

Did I even imply it was?

 

[snowflake311]

Therefore, any ecological damage that has been done will be isolated to this one pond.

In comparison to the rest of the world Madagascar is just one little island. Look at the wondrous flora and fauna endemic to Madagascar.

The fish native to this part of the country: trout, salmon etc require very cold, high oxygen water and would have no interest in this little, warm pond... There could have been other, smaller organisms that have been displaced.

If many species aren't use to the warm climate of this particular pond, imagine the different adaptions and evolutions that must have taken place.

I realise the OP and other posters in this thread didn't create this artificial monstrosity, but I don't think it's something to blindly marvel, let alone protect.

I agree. Why are you protecting something that is clearly not protected. People put the fish there so people know of it. These people and not responsable. It might be best to let people know where it is in hopes they would catch all the fish sell them keep them whatever. If the fish are all gone then great it's the people putting the fish there that are te problem.

I'm pretty sure I live with in 12 hours of this place.

 

[rebrn]

While I agree with not introducing foriegn species to the wild, one only needs to look to Austraila to see how well that works.

I don't see any sarcasm here so I'd just like to say that camels, rabbits and cane toads are a few of the introduced species that are now pests.

Really? Clearly meant to be sarcasm to me, though phrased a bit wrong due to the "while".

I didn't mean it to be sarcastic at all. I meant it to be literal. Australia has had its fair share of introduced species that have caused problems, as mentioned camels, rabbits, and cane toads are just a few that have caused, in my opinion, significant problems with the natural environment. I am sorry if I offended anybody. I was just trying to make the point that introduced species can be and often are a mistake that can cause significant problems if not kept in check. I just meant that we should learn from Australia and not repeat the mistakes. Nothing against Australia, I love the country and is one of the places on my "bucket list" to see. I apologize if I was not very clear in the previous posting.

On a side note, I did some research on non-native tropical fish introduced to the water systems in the US, and it would appear that this particular place is not as unique as it would seem. There are several hot springs where tropical fish have been released, some purposefully to make a buck in the resort hot springs, and some where people have just dumped there fish. While this pond, as stated previously, is isolated, there are some areas where these fish have infiltrated the main rivers and lakes in the US and the full environmental impact is yet unknown. As for this particular pond, I still feel it needs to be protected for the simple fact that these fish have been there for so long now that it is unlikely that they will survive anywhere else, and also to ensure that it remains isolated and these fish stay isolated and not become a part of the main water systems.

 

[three-fingers]

I didn't mean it to be sarcastic at all. I meant it to be literal.

As mentioned,it was the simple addition of the word "while" which has thrown everything off here.

While I agree with not introducing foreign species to the wild, one only needs to look to Australia to see how well that works.

The "while" infers that your next point goes against the first, i.e. you agree that foreign species shouldn't be released, however think that it does work well, as exemplified by Australia.

For example:

While I agree that phosphate fuels algae growth, I still think it should be added a heavily planted aquarium.

Obviously I know that you don't really think introductions are a good thing in Australia, hence I saw sarcasm in the sentence.

It makes sense when you read the rest of the post, just the punctuation is off.

What I now think you meant to say was:

While I agree with not introducing foreign species to the wild (one only needs to look to Australia to see how well that works), this pond is isolated, and hopefully somewhat protected from spilling the "unnaturalness" of it out into the main environment.

English lesson over, back to the hot spring .