the marsh by boat: lighting the gas

One of the last entertaining things our guide did for us was to light a deposit of marsh gas. You'll definitely want to click the link to watch the video (and hear me crow, "Ha! Super!") because I wasn't able to capture the flame via photos, except for a tiny orange flicker. The video is brief, but you get to see the marsh gas burning.

I asked the guide how he knew where the gas deposits were. He said it was a matter of knowing which plants were rotting in a given area. His method for bringing the gas to the surface was simply to use an oar to break up the gas bubbles trapped in the ground under the water, then to hold a cigarette lighter close and light the gas before it could dissipate.

VIDEO LINK