Seven month under thick ice – Lacs de Fenêtre, Valais Alps, Switzerland

 
 
 
 

This small lake in the Swiss Alps - one of the three small lakes called Lacs de Fenêtre - situated at about 2’500 m above sea level in the Canton of Valais, holds a strong stock of fish, especially Grayling (Thymallus thymallus). They manage to survive in this high elevation even with very long periods of ice covering the lake. When they ice disappears, usually in June, the Grayling enter a tiny and shallow creek to spawn. The water of the three lakes flows into the La Drance de Ferret river and into the Rhone river.

Freshwater Ecoregion of the World : #404 Central & Western Europe

Major Habitat Type: temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands


Produced in 2011 and 2012, some additional aerial photography in 2019 and 2020. Red dots indicate personal favorites.

Underwater

 


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Brook trout

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Landscapes

   

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Aerial Photography


  U07-564 (TIFF 59 MB) Lakes under ice and snow

U07-566 (TIFF 342 MB) Lakes under ice and snow

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Lakes under ice

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Avalanche cone

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Another Day at the Office

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