It isn’t often you see “citizen science” in an Associated Press (AP) wire service story, but today I was treated to one in the Mount Vernon News in Ohio, “Bird oglers help study puffins”. It was a story about the National Audubon Society asking people to monitor puffins on their three web cameras (http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-loafing-ledge-cam) on Seal Island in Maine.
The AP story says the birds are on Maine’s threatened species list. It adds that “Audubon says the number of puffin fledgling chicks has declined in the last two years, possibly because their key food source, herring and hake, are leaving for cooler waters.”
It quotes Steve Kress, director of the National Audubon Society’s seabird restoration program as saying that “Volunteers are being asked to watch the puffins feed and answer questions about their feeding behavior…”
When I finally go to their cam site, all I saw for instructions was a request take a snapshot of the cam scene from 10 to 10:30 a.m. and 6 to 6:30 p.m. and submit observations. The AP article said volunteers would watch and answer questions about their feeding behavior. On a quick glance I didn’t see a form with questions.
I don’t see how to even submit observations. The only thing I like about the site so far is the great sight of the colorful puffins sitting by a Gulf of Maine shoreline. If I can remember I’ll try to start keeping the cam site read to view. If I could type and see a small version of the cam, I’d keep it on all the time.
I have a lot of problems with this site though, including the fact that I’m not sure I’m seeing a live cam because I’m watching at about 10 p.m. EDT and the sun seems to be shining on the birds. Somewhere on the site it did say that the best viewing time is between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. EDT, so they probably are taped scenes after 9 p.m.
It’s too bad the site is so difficult to use because I like the idea of being a naturalist while sitting at a computer at home and not having to sit in the wilds of Africa, say, watching gorillas. Not that I wouldn’t love doing that, but how many of us amateur naturalists have the time or opportunity to do things like that?
The Maine “Project Puffin” program does offer a chance to be a volunteer naturalist (http://projectpuffin.audubon.org/volunteer-opportunities-10 ) at Seal Island or at their six other sanctuaries from 2 to 12 weeks each summer. Applications have to be submitted between January 1 and March 15 each year.
If the cam citizen science option works, it would be a fun opportunity for people of all ages to try their hands at animal behavior observations. And it would be a nice science project for students. I suppose people could make their own observations without submitting to Audubon or contact Audubon to figure out how to work with them.
The site does offer some materials for teachers but they are pretty pricey, except for a CD for $8 (http://projectpuffin.3dcartstores.com/Puffin-Island-CD-ROM_p_575.html ) and a DVD for $19.00 (http://projectpuffin.3dcartstores.com/Project-Puffin-DVD_p_576.html ). The DVD describes how Kress brought back puffins to Maine islands, beginning as a young biologist in 1973.
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