Ponds turning blue with eco-dye to hide fish from predators

By Jamie Smith via SWNS

These awesome aerials show the mesmerizing moment ponds are pumped full of environmentally-safe dye to halt harmful algae growth.

The dye not only slows the growth of algae, but also camouflages the fish in the pond and protects them from predators.

Woodend Farm, with its four large fishing ponds, sits on roughly 19 acres of land in the Nottinghamshire countryside in England and contains boarding kennels, a cattery and target sports ranges.

“The farm was originally purchased by my grandma Pam and grandad Stuart in the 1970's. He trained gun dogs and purchased the pig farm to convert it to kennels," said assistant director Brodan Mosley, 24.

“He dug the ponds originally to train his dogs and before we knew it, people wanted to fish here, so we became a fishery.

“Then when my grandma and grandad retired, my dad and uncle Justin took over and that's when we started Target Sports.

“In the videos, we are dying the water in our ponds to help the quality of the water. Dying the ponds is completely safe. Its main purpose is to hide our fish from predators (birds) and to slow the growth of algae in order to stop outbreaks.

“The main timelapse of the pond being dyed is being recorded by my drone pointing straight down to the pond.

“I poured the dye into our pump in order for it to disperse quicker and it took roughly 30 mins to capture the timelapse.

“Whilst filming, I was busy mowing and strimming our ponds. The drone landed itself after it's battery ran out and almost landed in the water. Oops."

The footage, captured on a DJI Mavic Zoom drone, has been shared thousands of times on social media.

It was received somewhat controversially with some viewers concerned with the environmental impact.

“There's been a lot of arguments over the video. People saying the dye is not good for the fish etc and then people on the other side," Brodan said.

“Overall, it's had a great reaction due to it being soooooo satisfying to watch and an interesting camera angle.

“One thing I've realized since this video went viral, is that there's a lot of people that think they know everything straight away.

“So many people on TikTok were getting straight on the defense about the dye, only to be put in their place by people that know what they're talking about. I want people to do their research before making comments.”