This handsome fellow, let’s call him Bill, was found in the Lower Molonglo by one of the citizen scientists working with ACT Waterwatch. Photo: Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch Program.
Round of applause, please, for our citizen scientists. We have come across a few over the past week or so, from people spending hours watching platypuses that are hiding from them to others with heads looking upwards for koalas with the same shy habits.
These are people who devote their time to the simple things in life – like making the world a better place.
You know the drill. Standing in the mud/dust (depending on when and where they are), looking at something they can’t see but is probably there, so they’d better keep looking. It’s always freezing cold (or boiling hot), they’re wearing their best worst clothes and often chum up with their friends as a way to catch up in their busy worlds, but they can’t really because if they make a noise, the koala, platypus or three-eyed, yellow-bellied endangered worm, they’re watching will mount a speedy wriggly, getaway.
But without these folk, we’d be so much the poorer.
Did you know that not only is it one of the best things ever to find a platypus floating about in its natural habitat, but it also tells you that it only lives in places of upmarket water quality? No cheap and nasty streams for these little fellows. How good is that? You find something rare where it is supposed to be – and it’s there because no human has had a chance to spoil its environment. Yet.
(Yep, drones have proven to be a big help in locating koalas high up in their gums, but as there have yet to be any official reports of biffo between the two, we’ll stay alert but not alarmed of these diverse meetings of minds over techno-splatter.)
One of the coordinators of the platypus citizen science project now on in Canberra and southern NSW even went as far as to say that some of these cute little mammals had been spotted in, wait for it, Lake Burley Griffin – a waterway not often used in the same sentence as the word pristine. But apparently, they’re there. He also talked about lots of anecdotal evidence of them being in the Queanbeyan and Yass rivers, as well as their more well-known home, the Molonglo – upper and lower – they know no class structure.
Just the fact they’re there, anywhere near humans and predators, is a blessing.
So I reckon we should start studying these fabulous folk. Instead of trying to work out why platypus chose a specific location to live, we should look at what sort of soul makes a good citizen scientist.
Is it you? According to the platypus coordinator, the main talent needed is patience. For those fans of clickbait, perhaps not. The word “bait” is a dead giveaway. Literally. You need to like waiting, love the build-up to something possibly happening, and then having a “quiet” yelp when you see what could well be some bubbles, the swish of a tail, or the spotting of the sort of bill you’d actually welcome.
For koalas or other things that keep themselves up where they belong, yep, patience is still needed – the state of mind, not the card game. (The latter being way too exciting and likely to detract you from your original mission if you have a win while waiting to break your heart over a platypus, and the cards explode all over your screen.)
So, what can we deduce from this complicated study to determine what makes a good citizen scientist – a study so cool that you don’t even need a Bunsen burner? (Ask someone old.)
Check out the ACT Waterwatch website to see what has been found where – and how you, too, can secure your scientific citizenship.
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