New Zealand’s Waitomo Glowworm Caves shimmer with a constellation of glow worms, and Jordan and Jenna from Stoked for Saturday got this gorgeous footage after a lot of trial and error.
The worms secrete sticky strings which capture insects attracted to their bioluminescent body parts. Jordan explains the process of capturing this beautiful footage, which resumed after a failed attempt:
Determined to finish the project, I went on a 40 hour marathon in May during a free weekend. I slept for brief 30 minute intervals on an air mattress on the cave floor with my alarm continually going off to check the camera as it moved a couple of millimetres at a time. By now I was well-practiced at capturing the glowworms and mitigating environmental hazards so I felt comfortable lying down from time to time. That didn’t mean I got much sleep though as I was still paranoid about things going wrong. The one time I did fall asleep for any length of time (1 hour) I woke up almost submerged in the river as the water level in the cave had risen while I was out.
Fun fact: this Canadian couple quit their jobs, sold all their stuff and moved to New Zealand sight unseen. They go on lots of cool adventures, so check out their site!
