In this September Fun & Games supplement, POB features more international Surveying Shots by Orlando Isidoro Novoa Vásquez, of Puerto Montt, Chile, including video footage of his rare encounter with a pudú, the world’s smallest deer.

Orlando (pictured) and his co-worker, Cesar Muñoz, are working in and around the Río Los Malos, which runs through a rainforest in Ayacara:

This job is part of a technical management plan for the development of a “Maritime Concession” that, when authorized by the respective maritime authority, will permit the installation of “raft cages” in the sea for the growth and development of salmon in captivity.

Parallel to this, we have set stakes that permits us to take cross profiles to determine the approximate hydraulics of this section of the river and the necessary elevation (in regard to sea level) to install intakes that will feed a freshwater fish farm (which will raise small fry that will be transferred to the raft cages once they reach the right size) and to produce electric power through a generator.

We are working with my old Topcon GTS 211 D total station. Its light weight makes it easy to transfer, and its hermetic seals protect against the great quantity of humidity in this zone.

Cesar, my co-worker, is helping to take a cross profile of the Río Los Malos. The river current is very strong, and it is necessary for him to be agile so that the water doesn’t drag him away. The total station is placed in the river and secured with a pile of stones.

This was one of the few days that it did not rain while we worked. Cesar is standing in the river after taking the elevation. He’s holding a machete, which we always have to bring along to clear paths through the forest or cut thicket that impedes the line of sight. It also comes in handy to use for support while walking in very slippery areas.

In this sector, we are parallel to the Río Los Malos and clearing a path in this always-green forest. We discover the changes in the river’s path. Many years ago, the river followed a very different route and had a lot more water than it does today. The locals, at one time, knocked down a tree to be able to cross to the other side. Cesar is pictured here happily making his way across the tree trunk.