Step Inside a Glowworm Cave With This Stunning Timelapse

Glowworms are some of nature’s more magical creations. While you’ve surely marveled at them in still photos, watching these tiny bulbs of light on video is a whole other experience.

Engineer Jordan Poste moved from Canada to New Zealand in 2013, and has been documenting the experience along with wife Jenna ever since. Last summer, Poste turned his camera toward the country’s famed glowworms. Over the course of three months he shot three different locations: the Waipu and Abbey Caves in Whangaeri, and the Ruakokoputuna in Martinborough. The result is 60 hours of gorgeous footage timelapsed into just under two minutes.

Poste worked at night to steer clear of tourists and ventured about 650 feet inside each cave before setting to work. To capture the mesmerizing glowworms, he mounted a camera onto an automated slider, which was programmed to move forward over a set period of time and snap a photo every 35 seconds. Poste fastened bike lights to the cave walls when he needed a lighting boost, but mostly just waited in the dark for the camera and the creatures to do their business. The shoots each took about two and half hours, and resulted in 3000 frames, most of which are featured in the video above.

Poste told WIRED that the intent was to make it feel like you're walking through a glowworm cave: “It’s similar to lying down outside under the stars and just looking at the sky and emptying your mind," he said. "It’s extra special, though, because you realize they aren’t stars, but worms with glowing bums.”

Images via YouTube // Stoked for Saturday

[h/t WIRED]