KARWAR: While monsoon brings an opportunity for photographers to capture rare moments of reptiles and amphibians, there is a unique set of photographers who are more interested in clicking a fungus. For this organism has a particular speciality - it glows at night.
The fungus grows on decaying wood and emits light with glowing dead twigs splayed out, bringing to mind scenes from the Hollywood movie Avatar. Usually such light-emitting decaying woods are located in the thick forests of Western Ghats along the borders of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
According to experts, the bio-luminescent decaying wood and twigs glow at night only and that too in a particular season. A photographer from Bengaluru, who went to the forest at night, has photographed these glowing dead plants at night.
Photographer and documentary maker Sriharsha Ganjam said he came to know about the glowing plants in the Western Ghats during one of the expeditions. "In search of such plants, we went to Chorla Ghats. After a week-long expedition, we found glowing fungi on decaying woods in the thick and evergreen forests. These luminous fungi can be mostly found in high rainfall receiving areas."
"It was not easy as we thought, we spent the whole night to capture photos of the illuminating wood. It was difficult to capture photos, therefore we used to change camera settings and captured the photos. The illuminating woods are seen only at night during monsoon. If we use torch or mobile light, we were not able to see any emitting of light," he added.
Another photographer said bioluminescence does not take place on live trees. "The fungi grows on decaying woods during heavy rains. These fungi are seen in the forests of Chorla Ghats, Aghanashini forest, thick forest near Sirsi and in Meghalaya and Mizoram forests in North Eastern India. We need patience to search for them and wait till they illuminate light," he noted.
"Many people say it is an illusion that a tree glows at night. But there are illuminating woods in the forest which has not come to light. New researches should be taken up to study these fungi. These researches will be helpful in preserving such fungi that lights up the forest at night," he said.
Still A Mystery
It is believed that there were illuminating forest patches in the past, but experts say it is just an illusion. Photographers who claims they have captured illuminating decaying woods in the Western Ghats demand research and preservation of such forests.
The photographers said it is dangerous to roam around the forest at night in the monsoon season to photograph these fungi. They said they captured the photos with the help of forest staffers and villagers.