Alpacka Raft’s blog featured a native-fish conservation survey in Patagonia’s Northern Ice Field. A team made up of ecologist Katie Adase, Benja Escobar, Anna Astorga, glaciologist Iñigo Irarrazaval, and Jonny Burton spent seven months in 2024 surveying seven rivers: Rio Gualas, Rio Exploradores, Rio Circo, Rio Nef, Rio Colonia, and Rio Ventisquero, among others.
This is a piece about packrafts used as research tools. Carrying gear across glacial lakes and down rivers to reach survey sites — that’s a use case that’s not quite a river trip and not quite fieldwork, and feels like packrafting at its most characteristic.
Native Species Under Threat From Invasives
The team surveyed the distribution and population of native fish species, including galaxiids, which are under threat from invasive salmonids, using electrofishing equipment to do so.
Survey Sites Only a Packraft Can Reach
Carrying roughly 60 pounds of gear, including two packrafts, the team crossed glacial lakes and paddled down rivers to reach survey sites that were otherwise geographically difficult to access. At one point, paddling against wind and current, Katie recalled her lungs burning, knowing that stopping would mean the wind and tide pulling her further out to sea. Benja pulled her out.
Related Link
→ Alpacka Raft blog: Conservation Tales — The Race to Find and Protect Patagonia’s Native Fishes
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