Frogs and Otters

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.Posing for the curious photographer.
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011

This year started off kind of slow: no guiding trips, no official photo shoots so far. But it doesn’t mean that my cameras are taking a break – the past week was particularly productive.

Last Monday, I was just getting out of bed to start a new week, when one of my neighbors calls: “Daniel, I’m sorry for calling so early, but I just found this rare and unique frog in my garage and am saving it for you to photograph, please hurry!”. I dressed quickly, picked up my Brazilian Amphibians guide book and went to see it. After identifying the species as a Melanophryniscus fulvoguttatus, I placed it on a nice leaf on the ground, took these pictures and let it go.

My wife likes to call this one "The Yoga Frog"!
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011

Even though it does not appear as endangered according to IUCN’s Red List, this may change at any time, as amphibians suffer global impacts. The species has a quite restricted range, covering part of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil, a portion of Paraguay and a bit of Argentina. So, if you want to see this exquisite frog, you must come to the region where I live!

Back to normal.
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011

A few days later, some tour guides with whom I am friends mentioned that a Giant Otter was showing frequently at one of the region’s river springs used for snorkeling programs. I made my plans and spent nearly 10 hours over the weekend inside the water to try and photograph it. Even though I succeeded, I am still not satisfied with the images and want to get some different situations. This means that I must go back to the river again, what a sacrifice : -)

Giant Otter: up close and personal.
Photo: © Samuel Duleba, 2011

If YOU were a Giant Otter,
wouldn't you LOVE to live here too?!
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011

Different from the little frog, this big semi-aquatic predator appears as endangered according to IUCN. So, the privilege (not only mine, but for all tourists who are seeing it) is incommensurable. I must thank these critters for giving me such a good time this past week : -)

Plenty of fresh food, just pick one.
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011

He ate this "corimbata" fish like
if it was a bag of potato chips.
Photo: © Daniel De Granville, 2011
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(UPDATE: AS OF FEBRUARY 25, 2011, AFTER EXTENSIVE WEB SEARCHES ON IMAGE BANKS AND TALKS WITH PHOTOGRAPHERS, I AM QUITE SURE THAT UNDERWATER PICTURES OF GIANT OTTERS IN SUCH CLEAR WATERS ARE EXTREMELY RARE, IF NOT UNIQUE!)
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