There were bats, and owls, horseshoe crabs and ribbon snakes. And even a few lesser-known species: Teddy Bear caterpillars, and sphinx moths.
In all, 665 species were collected in the first 24-hour survey of wildlife in and around Jamaica Bay.
The creatures were finds of scientists, naturalists and members of the general public participating in what is being billed as BioBlitz, sponsored by the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at Queens College in Flushing and the Jamaica Bay Institute at Gateway National Recreation Area.
For two days, 250 people from the City University of New York, private and public high schools, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the National Audubon Society, the American Littoral Society, other organizations and neighborhood residents tallied terrestrial and aquatic species in the federal park.
"This is all about getting people excited about nature," Gillian Stewart, assistant earth and environmental sciences professor at Queens College, said. "It's a combination of people doing this all their life and people who've never done this."
John Kaarli, 12, of Manhattan, was among many young volunteers. He repeatedly dipped a small net into a fish tank until he brought up a live killifish. Shrimp and seaweed were also in the tank.
"I love nature," John, an aspiring herpetologist, said. "I have hated all my life people polluting the planet, things dying in the rain forest, spider monkeys losing their habitat. A tree that took maybe 500 years to grow is cut down in five minutes, just wiped off the planet."
He arrived for the BioBlitz at 6 p.m. Friday with his father, Peter, a retired math and science teacher. They stayed until 2 a.m. Saturday and were back later that day.
One purpose of the BioBlitz was to "highlight the natural resources and get people to understand the rich biodiversity of Jamaica Bay," said Kim Tripp, director of the Jamaica Bay Institute.
Two hundred BioBlitzes have been held internationally since Sam Droege, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, conducted one in Washington, D.C., 10 years ago. "It's awareness. It's education," said Suzi Zetkus, a volunteer at the Museum of Natural History who organizes such events.
John Waldman, a Queens College biology professor, said BioBlitz is "a concept that's growing. It brings a lot of scientists together to get information it would take years to get. People see how scientists work in the field, and they're being exposed to high-level science also. We've opened a lot of eyes," he said.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) told the scientists and volunteers, "People are having a dramatic impact on this park. We as neighbors have an obligation to protect it. We have no idea of the impact of losing a single species on the others."
For Maria Acevedo of Flushing, it was all about knowledge. "It's always good to know what you have in the area," she said.
