Gallery Video
MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - One of the benefits of living in Mossel Bay and on the Garden Route is the bounty of fauna and flora.
There are still large stretches of open land and one can spot a variety of plants, antelope and interesting birds and insects.
You can be a "citizen scientist" and contribute to an understanding of the diverse species found in this region.
All you need to do is take photographs of animals and flora, go to the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) website, www.adu.uct.ac.za, click on Virtual Museum, register and upload your photographs.
Click here for a photo gallery.
You upload your photograph with a short description of the plant or animal and where and when you saw it.
Once you have registered with a password, you can upload photographs at any time. It does not matter if the animal or insect is commonly seen, upload it still. It will give an indication of how common it is. Even if the animal is dead, such as a snake you found - a "road kill" - upload a picture of it.
You don't need to know anything about biology. Even if you failed this subject at school or didn't even attempt it, you can contribute to important research - perhaps even more than those who did biology.
The Animal Demography Unit is based at the University of Cape Town.
On the virtual museum website there are a number of categories you can click on, such as spiders, mushrooms, mammals, frogs, scorpions and so forth, so you can choose the category under which you upload your photo.
Even if you are not internet savvy, it is an extremely easy process to follow step by step. Viewing the photos on the Virtual Museum is also interesting.
Watch a video below taken in Mossel Bay showing how a tok-tokkie beetle makes its characteristic sound:
The Animal Demography Unit Virtual Museum home page. You click on "Register" on the list on the left to get started.
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