By Katie Swinwood | October 3, 2022
On September 17th to 18th , ISCBC hosted our first annual Wet and Wild BioBlitz where participants across BC explored freshwater and marine ecosystems to observe and report native and invasive aquatic species. All species were reported to iNaturalist, which was used to track the BioBlitz! We had an amazing diversity of species reported including fungi, mollusks, birds, mammals, plants, amphibians, and reptiles. Over 1200 reports were made across the province, from Vancouver Island, Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, to Kamloops, Kelowna, Central Kootenay, East Kootenay, and all the way to Smithers. A big thanks to all the participants who spent their weekend capturing the biodiversity in their favorite aquatic environments.
Congratulations to the winners @marlenejohnston and @Jim22lawrence who had the most observations during the event!
“My favourite findings were the blooming flowers along the receding shoreline. This is a fantastic way to get outside and discover what is in our own backyard and neighbourhood.” – Marlene Johnston
“My favourite part from the weekend was learning about water spiders and the Six-spotted Fishing Spider (Dolomedes triton) comes to mind. Above all is the appreciation of help in identifying the many species we’re sharing this planet with and my growing respect for the value of citizen science.” – Jim Lawrence
Reporting and observing is a great way to contribute to community science and is one of the most important things we can do to stop the spread of invasive species and protect biodiversity because it captures valuable data. The goal of this BioBlitz was to get people out in their favourite aquatic environments while contributing to community science. As this first aquatic BioBlitz was a great success, we aim to make it an annual event. So stay tuned for next year. If you are interested in learning more about reporting and observing, join our Community Science Network!
Katie is a Outreach Coordinator at ISCBC. She is grateful to live, work and play in Nelson on the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa, Sinixt and Syilx peoples. In her spare time, you can find her adventuring in the woods with her dog. You can reach Katie at kswinwood@bcinvasives.ca.
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