So I wonder how this is supposed to affect fishing. Will the little fish lose their senses and start swimming the wrong way?
I never thought about how eclipses might affect wildlife.
lWhat will animals do during the eclipse? Scientists aren't entirely sure.
http://thesouthern.com/news/local/e...cle_070061e2-db8f-5375-a8fb-b8a5fd05316f.html
- BARB EIDLIN The Southern
- Jul 24, 2017 Updated Aug 7, 2017
Scientists look for help documenting animal behavior
Anecdotally, we know animals appear to respond to the change in light that affects not only nocturnal animals, but crepuscular ones. Crepuscular animals are species most active during dusk and dawn.
Reports during eclipses worldwide tell of night birds singing, bats flying, spiders tearing down webs, or owls calling.
“But it is difficult for us to find data that is not anecdotal,” said Rebecca Johnson, citizen science research coordinator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
Because of the infrequency of total solar eclipses, Johnson said, the academy does not have any staff researchers who have done specific studies on animal behavior during one, and that is common throughout the scientific community.
Johnson’s colleague, Elise Ricard, life responds coordinator for the California Academy of Sciences, was present in Australia during the 2012 eclipse.
As a result of that experience, Ricard said the academy wanted to find a project that would provide people a way to do citizen science and connect with the eclipse in a way that would also support their mission to explore, explain and sustain life.
They created the “Life Responds” project, which asks citizens to download the iNaturalist app from Apple or Android platforms and document what they see during the eclipse.
The app allows people all over the world to document biodiversity through personal or project observations, and is uniquely positioned to allow people to document plant and animal reactions to the eclipse.
Johnson said people are asked to record an observation 30 minutes before and after the eclipse and at least twice during maximum coverage.
“They can look for any animal or plant, though we expect more reactions from say, chicken going to roost, birds stopping to sing, plants folding up for the night, insects hiding, or maybe even bats flying out,” Ricard said.
Johnson encouraged those using the app to scope out the spot at which they will be standing and focus on one or two things they will document.
“That way, when the event happens they can spend most of their time witnessing what’s happening in the skies, but still help gather data about what’s happening on the ground,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Ricard said the app is free to download and the results will be posted on both the iNaturalist and Cal Academy websites, with the raw data available as well for anyone to use or access.
More about the project can be found at
www.inaturalist.org/projects/life-responds-total-solar-eclipse-2017.
