According to CCTV Financial Channel, two diving explorers recently dived to Jingpo Lake in Heilongjiang and filmed a rare "freshwater fish storm" phenomenon in the lake. As can be seen from the video, the lake is full of light, the transparency of the lake is very high, and a large number of freshwater fish gather and swim, as if a storm has formed in the water, and the scene is very shocking.
The video was filmed in the black dragon pond of Jingpo Lake in mid-March, and the fish in the picture include carp, fathead fish, yellow jaw fish, mandarin fish, etc., with dozens of fish resources. Due to the excellent underwater visibility, fish in the range of 10 to 20 meters are clearly visible, which is rare in freshwater lakes in The country.
Why is there a freshwater fish storm in Jingpo Lake?
Located in Ning'an City, Heilongjiang Province, Jingpo Lake is the largest volcanic dammed lake in mainland China and a famous scenic spot. The lake is about 5 kilometers wide from east to west and 45 kilometers long from north to south, and the average water depth of the lake is about 40 meters, and the deepest depth is 62 meters, and the water storage capacity is very strong.
According to the data given by the Jingpo Lake Environmental Monitoring Station, the lake covers an area of about 95 square kilometers, has a storage capacity of 1.625 billion m³, and an average annual water storage capacity of 1.144 billion m³. In addition to the depth of the water, Jingpo Lake is also a very famous freshwater fish reservoir in Heilongjiang, and a red net has caught 860,000 catties of fish during the winter fishing period, and the fishery resources are very rich.
In the "Survey of Fishery Resources of Heilongjiang Province" in the 1980s, a total of 40 species of fish were found in Jingpo Lake, in addition to the artificial stocking species such as grass silver carp, most of them were local indigenous fish species, including pike, northeast yarrow, bass, river cod, Heilongjiang carp and so on.
In order to find out the fish bottom in Jingpo Lake, Jin Zhimin and other scholars conducted another in-depth investigation in 2010, recording species through various forms such as net fishing, visiting surrounding fishermen, squatting in farmers' markets, and finally found a total of 43 species of fish, including 15 species of economic fish.
Therefore, there are indeed many fish in Jingpo Lake, and the "dozens of fish resources" reported by CCTV is not an exaggeration, which is also the basic condition for the emergence of "freshwater fish storms" in the lake.
Taken together, the emergence of "fish storms" is related to the following factors:
First of all, the lake area has a superior environment and abundant fish reserves. From above, the shoreline of Jingpo Lake is long, and there are many bays in the lake, which is conducive to the breeding and habitat of fish. The whole lake has sufficient bait and huge biological carrying capacity, so the number of fish is very large. Experts have made estimates that according to the bait basis of Jingpo Lake, the average per mu of water surface can theoretically produce 35 kilograms of commercial fish, and the annual output of the whole lake can reach more than 3500 tons.
Secondly, the transparency of the water body is high. Zhang Qi is one of the discoverers of the "Fish Storm", he has divened deep into many waters in China, and is deeply touched by the transparency of the Black Dragon Pond of Jingpo Lake. Freshwater lakes with clearer water bodies in China generally have a transparency of 5 to 8 meters, and only 1 to 2 meters with lower transparency. According to visual inspection, the transparency at the Black Dragon Pond of Jingpo Lake is "at least more than ten meters upwards", and it is estimated that there are "more than 20 meters and nearly 30 meters". The ideal water depth and transparency provide important conditions for shooting "fish storms".
Again, in winter and early spring, the fish are more concentrated. The water level and storage capacity of Jingpo Lake are not static. From March to April every year, the flow of rivers entering the lake, such as the main stream of the Mudanjiang River and the Dalishugou River, becomes smaller, so Jingpo Lake enters a dry period. At this time, Jingpo Lake has less water storage and a higher density of fish.
Finally, artificial release is indispensable. In order to develop the fishery economy, artificial stocking has become the main means of ensuring the production of winter catch, and the fry stocked are mainly silver carp and bighead carp. Silver carp live in the middle and upper layers of water bodies, have a group habit, and most of the stocking groups are uniform size and fish age, so it is easy to swim in groups. In addition, 500,000 red-tailed fish (Mongolian bass) were released in the lake area in 2020 and 400,000 in 2021, which also has a swarm habit during the breeding period.
So, why do the fish in Jingpo Lake appear to flock? The cluster form of fish is generally clumpy, and the surface area under the same volume is small, which is conducive to avoiding peripheral predators and improving the survival chances of the population. At the same time, the fish grouping into clusters can also effectively use the food resources in the space. However, "fish storms" only appear in reservoirs with deeper water levels and larger capacities, such as the Three Gorges Reservoir and Qiandao Lake, and of course, Jingpo Lake also meets all the necessary conditions.
Locals call the lake "giant fish", what could it be?
In some ancient lakes, there are often rumors related to water monsters and giant fish, such as the Kanas Lake Monster. In the 1980s, the water monsters of Kanas Lake were a sensation, and many people claimed to have seen huge shadows on the lake, twice the length of a cruise ship, with a black back, and sometimes huge waves, and even the whole boat was bumped!
According to the analysis of experts from the Department of Biology of Xinjiang University, the Kanas Lake monster may be a ferocious fish called "Big Red Fish", scientifically known as Zheluo Salmon. According to records, the largest known salmon is 2.1 meters long and weighs 105 kg, and the lifespan of this species is estimated to be more than 55 years old, most likely the prototype of the water monster.
Comparison of salmon and divers in Jerro
In the Jingpo Lake in Heilongjiang, there are also "giant fish" according to legend. According to the social life column of the Heilongjiang Yearbook, an aquatic creature known locally as a "giant fish" has frequently haunted Jingpo Lake. According to the witnesses, when the giant fish swims on the surface of the lake, the exposed part is more than 5 meters long and more than half a meter high, the back is round, and the body color is black.
The true identity of the "giant fish" is not known, but according to the list of fish in the lake, some fish can grow to more than a meter, such as the salmon and pike.
Let's first analyze the special features of Jingpo Lake. As the world's second largest alpine barrage lake, the geological structure of Jingpo Lake is dominated by basalt, perlite and granite, and the geological age is very old, and the bottom of the lake is rich in geothermal energy.
The Black Dragon Pond of Jingpo Lake is even more special. The average winter temperature of Jingpo Lake is below -20 °C, and the ice thickness can reach 70 to 100 cm. However, the Black Dragon Pond never freezes, the temperature of the lake remains at about 8 ° C all year round, the deeper the water, the higher the water temperature, and the temperature at the bottom of the water is above 10 ° C. The secret of the Black Dragon Pond's non-freezing is that the hot springs that constantly gush out from the bottom of the lake make the water temperature here higher than other places, thus forming the spectacle of "water and ice connection".
If the underground spring outlet exists widely in Jingpo Lake, then the bottom of the lake may form a "small biosphere" or "local small ecology", similar to the "deep-water fish reservoir" in Guangxi's Backwater Bay, which may brew an unknown wonder of life. In fact, the two divers, with the help of underwater robots, did discover the "mysterious world" that existed at the bottom of the Black Dragon Pond: a huge underwater cave. This unique karst landscape generally appears in Guangxi and other places, and it is indeed very rare in the northern region.
Salmon, pike or unknown creatures?
The "giant fish" of Jingpo Lake have been seen in the news more than once, which also adds mystery to the lake.
According to the Mudanjiang Morning Post, in May 2006, a large fish appeared on the surface of the lake 60 to 70 meters away from the shore, with its back exposed to the water surface of more than 20 centimeters, and its length was estimated to be more than 7 meters. However, the "giant fish" has no fins found on its back, nor can it see its head and tail. After about five minutes, the creature of unknown origin swam 20 meters away and eventually sank down into the lake.
Later, some people met once, that time at the same time came out two big fish, the small one is seven or eight meters, the long one is fourteen or fifteen meters long, because the medium-sized passenger ship on the lake is 12 meters long, and the big fish seen at that time is much longer than the passenger ship, and it is estimated that the large one weighs 3,000 pounds.
On July 13, 2012, a tourist from Jiangxi said that he was enjoying the view from the Hanging Water Building when he suddenly saw a large splash on the surface of the lake. Accompanied by the sound was a rolling, black and leisurely water monster, more than twenty meters long, and the time to dive and float was as long as one minute.
Judging from the descriptions of tourists, both the salmon and the pike seem to be "incompetent". The largest salmon found so far is only more than 2 meters long, far less than 7 meters or more than 10 meters in size.
As for pike, the common species in China are white spotted pike and black pike, which generally weigh 1 to 2 kg and have a body length of about 60 cm. Some foreign anglers have caught 30 to 35 kilograms of giant pike, about 70 years old, but this is still too different from the 3,000-pound monster.
Judging from the appearance characteristics described by witnesses, it is also possible that the real identity of the "giant fish" is not a fish, because its back is curved, the surface is very smooth, the tail fin and dorsal fin are not visible, and there are no scales on the body surface. Therefore, the "giant fish" may also be some kind of unknown creature.
Some experts believe that the authenticity of the "giant fish" is doubtful. The director of the Mudanjiang Fisheries Science Research Institute said that the possibility of "giant fish" being an unknown creature is very low, such a huge organism needs sufficient food supply, and although the water area of Jingpo Lake is large, the reserves of fish and shrimp are limited and do not have such conditions. Therefore, the possibility of such a creature actually existing is not high.
Of course, these mysteries need to be further studied and investigated. While exploring nature, we still need to be in awe of the unknown, and use scientific methods to investigate, believing that the truth of the "giant fish" will eventually be revealed.
What do you think about the "giant fish" of Jingpo Lake? Feel free to leave a message in the comments section.