Durban - The Great Southern Bioblitz, linking nature lovers across the southern hemisphere, has entered its second phase after thousands of people across the globe went out and documented various forms of life last week.
The worldwide citizen science event, which took place from October 28 to 31, saw nature lovers and scientists in Africa, South America and Australia go out to photograph as many species of fauna and flora as possible within a certain time frame and in specific areas.
Now that the observation period is over, the photographs are being uploaded onto the iNaturalist app where experts from around the world will identify the various species, said Suvarna Parbhoo Mohan of the SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) and the African focal point for the event.
“We try really hard to get youth involved and it’s definitely a family thing,” said Parbhoo Mohan.
She said once all participants had uploaded their data they would know who identified the most species and in which country this happened.
Durban couple Aradhna Ramroop and Preshen Hardeo gave new meaning to romance in the moonlight last Saturday when they decided to have a date in the Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve in Yellowwood Park.
Ramroop, a volunteer education guide at uShaka Marine World, said they loved doing picnics and walks in the reserve.
When she heard the reserve was part of the bioblitz, she and Hardeo decided to incorporate a date night and give it a try. They enjoyed it so much they want to invest in special cameras for the next event.
“It was so scary, it was exactly like a scene from a horror movie. No one else was walking close to us and you use all your senses because it’s so dark you can’t see anything.”
And then their torch died, making it even more spooky.
Ramroop said they switched on their cellphone torches and, despite some nerves, were able to observe several species, including dwarf chameleons, in the dark.
She said participating in the night-time bioblitz gave her a different perspective on what nature has to offer and encouraged others not to just look for the big animals, birds and snakes, but the hidden things one could only see at night.
The first Great Southern Bioblitz was held in 2020 and at least 3 000 participants from 12 countries uploaded 91 000 observations of more than 12 000 species.
Last year 5 789 observers from 19 countries participated.
The results from this year’s event will be known in two weeks when the data has been processed.
The Independent on Saturday