Biosphere Expeditions Blog
435 FOLLOWERS
Biosphere Expeditions is a non-profit citizen science wildlife conservation expeditions. Follow this blog for more information related to wildlife conservation.
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
6h ago
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
On Saturday we had sea state 4 with higher waves, strong winds and a rocking boat. The lower deck team had to hold on tight and put their balance skills to the test. Also on the upper deck, taking data when holding on can be tricky, but the team managed in the end. With the north-eastern winds, we headed out again to the south of Pico and came across a dead sperm whale floating. The cause of death is unclear. Eventually the carcass will sink to the bottom in what is calle ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
1w ago
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
After two days of strong winds, the sun came out to welcome our first group of expeditioners arriving from both sides of the Atlantic. As always, the first two days are dedicated to full-on training to get everyone up to speed on the species of interest, ready to record valuable data out at sea.
As we were getting familiar with all the roles on board, the many different datasheets, GPS, transect log, phone app… there was a slight sense of information overload. Yet, once o ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
1w ago
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
I write to you from our beautiful research base at Monté de Guia where Lisa and I are busy preparing everything for your arrival. Located right at the waterfront, the sea view here is ideal to check out the weather conditions before heading out to sea and get into marine citizen science action. Today we were treated to blue skies, some sunshine, but strong winds and many white caps dancing on the waves, but the conditions should improve in the coming days when group 1 wil ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2w ago
Update from our marine conservation volunteering holiday in the Azores archipelago, working on whales, dolphins and turtles
Welcome to the first diary entry of the 2024 Azores Biosphere expedition. I am An Bollen, your expedition leader for this 18th edition. I look forward returning to the stunning Azores and immersing myself in citizen science research alongside all of you in the weeks ahead. It will be my third time running the expedition.
Meanwhile at our research base, Lisa Steiner, our expedition scientist, has already been treated to sightings out at sea. Not only her favoured sperm wh ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
On the very last day of this year’s Arabia expedition group 2 discovered
a pharaoh eagle owl nest with two fluffy chicks in it. The nest was
well hidden in a ghaf tree with one parent always on watch. This
discovery was a direct result of our surveys, which led the scientists
to believe there was an active nest site somewhere around the west ghaf
grove. Further tips and investigations finally led us to the nest.
Science is often like a puzzle: Putting together tiny pieces to pa ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
First, some exciting news from the desert expedition front: Group 1 discovered a new bird species in the DDCR, a long-eared owl. They spotted the animal on a final morning stroll around camp in a ghaf tree. Matthias and Pete came sprinting back to camp getting their cameras and managed to get good pictures. Only at the computer screen it later became obvious that it wasn’t the expected pharao eagle owl, but a long-eared owl, a species that has never before been recorded in the ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
Group 1 has left – thank you so much for your efforts and being a great group. Group 2 arrived safely at camp on Monday after a tour at the DDCR visitor centre. After the vehicle & driver training, we waved Simon goodbye. Other obligations are calling for his return to Austria – travel safely, Simon!
We will be a smaller group of seven citizen scientists for the next week and are determined to finish up what group 1 started. We’ll be all ready to head out on our own once we ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
Today is Saturday and we have said farewell to group 1 after an good week with a hidden bonus as we packed up camp this morning, more of which later!
After a week of hard work, the team completed 55 (of 62) quadrat surveys, multiple bird counts (where Matthias and Georgina deserve special mention for passing on their extensive knowledge to other citizen scientists) and the hunt for the elusive Pharaoh eagle owl goes on. Our camera traps captured sand foxes, Arabian hare and jer ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
It’s day four on our desert expedition and while I am writing this, everyone else is out in the field collecting data. We work in four teams swapping activities such as circular observation, bird census and pharaoh eagle owl survey. All data collected in the field also need to be typed in to the computer, which makes data entry another activity we will bring in in a couple of days. The daily routine works well: Getting up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:00 and heading out into the fiel ..read more
Biosphere Expeditions Blog
2M ago
Update from our wildlife conservation volunteering holiday in Dubai (UAE) working on oryx, wildcat and desert species
On Saturday group 1 arrived without mishaps and were treated to a visit to the brand-new DDCR Visitor Centre, its displays serving as an introduction and featuring plenty of Biosphere Expeditions mentions and joint achievements, of which everyone involved in the expeditions over the years can justifiably be proud of. Our staff were happy to see their pictures, handwriting and other “artefacts” on display.
From the Visitor Centre we proceeded into the DDCR. The gazelle and oryx ..read more