Cenote Aktun Ha (AKA Carwash)

duanes said:

Although the water was very turbid because of heavy rains, and viability mostly poor, I figure its worth posting for a few reasons.
Note how the Parachromis friedrichsthalii appears in the same manner as a stealth bomber might, virtually out of nowhere. And also how, compared to tetras and live bearers, there is a very small % of cichlid population in this large body of water (for a cenote).
I was also surprised by the Tilapine population in this fairly "off the beaten path" cenote, on the highway west of Tulum
Out of an hour of circumventing the cenote, and filming the entire time, only about 7 minutes was interesting enough (for my taste) to keep.
I am very interested in natural biotope, and plant species. Other than the overhanging terrestrial plants, and tree roots, the only aquatic species, seem to be Nymphaea water lilies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT8GK9ZaJJo

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duanes said:

Thanks guys for the cudos.
Beside the rain causing runoff and making the water cloudy, a large group of scuba divers had just finished when I got there, that day, and may have sent many cichlids into hiding, and kicked up a lot of sediment.
Sam, I will be interested to hear about what you find, how different and how it has changed in the 10 months since I was last there.
My next trip is to Panama this fall, and I hope to get some interesting shots.

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