Mysterious flagellates of Temple Gayain. Miki City, Hyogo, Japan

 Sparkle flagellates are often found in small ponds or caves all over the Main Island of Japan. They are called "Hikari-mo".  I was suddenly reminded the memory my father took me to see them in Miki City when I was a child. Unfortunately we couldn't see any visions at that time. It is said the best season is January to Feburary, so I was trying to find again.

 There are two locations known well in Kinki(Kansai) Region, one is a cave, "Sijimi no Ishimuro" in the Miki Disaster Prevention Park (Miki Bōsai Kōen). The another is a pond in Temple Gayain. Both are adjacent area in Miki City. I went to Temple Gayain this time.

The first image was processed color contrust with AuroraHDR. Actually it was a bit vaguer with the naked eye like this. Reflection of sun light looks like raibow color by flagellates. They say it looks clearer depending upon climate condition like coldness and strong sunshine. I guess it is a kind of structural coloration, but is rare flagellate's effect at least in Japan. BTW this pond is always white cloudy in the other seasons.

Here are some other shots.

 Temple Gayain has many features for beautiful nature, ancient buddhism and Satoyama contents. It is one of my favorite location.