Cormorant | Dusky's Wonders

Karst towers, the rocky formations by the Li river in China near Guilin, are truly natural wonders.

By jacklee

By Karamochi

by bouti blog

Below is the town of Guilin.

By eric finlanson

Guilin rice harvest.

The following image is so striking, I had to check to make sure it was real. The story that goes with it makes it even more striking. Here’s a description by photographer Michael Anderson at his website. ” I wandered alone on the riverbanks and met a cormorant fisherman who showed me his traditional methods. They fish at night and the lantern attracts fish toward the raft so the cormorant can dive in and catch them. The fishermen tie a loose string around the cormorant’s neck so they can’t swallow it completely, and the men pull out the fish and store them in a basket. This method of fishing has existed for over a thousand years.

KARST TOPOGRAPHY

The Guilin tower karsts are an example of karst topography, land formations caused by rainwater combining with carbon dioxide in the air to become slightly acidic.

The acidic water works its way into any crack, fault or fissure in limestone rock and chemically erodes the rock. Over time, the openings caused by the acidic rain are widened into passages or caves and initial trickles of water become streams. Sometimes the cave ceiling collapses forming sinkholes or a cenotes.

The following are examples of the breathtaking variety of karst topography from images taken around the planet.

Viet Nam, Halong bay