August 2024 Citizen Science

Diane showing off her crabbie friends!

Cannot believe we are already to August!

As we are preparing for kiddos to go back to school we will be starting to limit our tour options so please contact our office or check our website if you have any questions about tours. Weekly Wednesday Low country boils as well as our crabbing trip will be ending soon!!!

This blog posts includes information about citizen science projects that can be found in the area! Citizen science is a form of data collection that the public of all ages can participate in. It usually involves the collection of data and recording it or entering it into a database for different organizations. A list of citizen science projects will be listed & linked below!

There are so many citizen science projects to get involved with. We’d like to highlight some beach sweeps and pollution pickups listed below. Pollution pickups and beach sweeps will enter the trash collected into databases and can be used to help ban or limit different products. These are only a short list of organized environmental cleanups–there are several out there if you are interested!

• SCA cleanups
• Ocean Conservancy
• Surf Rider 

We are now in the heat of the summer and you can still report different species sightings. There are a couple species that you can partake in citizen science data collection by reporting your sightings of these animals to the SC Department of Natural Resources. (These can be reported year round but are typically found in SC during the warmer months!)

Some of the species include:

1) Diamondback Terrapins

Reporting information here:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/95c4d0b2850f42b1b95acfee1b2e90f1

2) Manatees

Report a live manatee here:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/bbfdac2dc65e443a98d2d02fd32f0837

3) Sea turtles

Report a live sighting of a sea turtle here:

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/a7c87e03d4b541c38667c0e80193f02c

4) Swallow-tailed kites

Report a live sighting of a swallow-tailed kite here:

https://stki.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/

Citizen Science projects listed below!

• https://southcarolinabatworkinggroup.org/
• https://www.birdcount.org/participate/
• https://www.lowcountrymarinemammalnetwork.org/volunteer
• https://scaquarium.org/conservation/citizenscience/
• https://www.scseagrant.org/citizen-science-encouraging-public-engagement/
• https://www.facebook.com/sullivansislandbirds
• https://charlestonwaterkeeper.org/volunteer/
• https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/monitoring-and-assessments/pmn/
• https://datascienceprograms.com/learn/the-role-of-data-science-in-astronomy-and-interstellar-exploration/
• https://explorer1.jpl.nasa.gov/explore-as-one/citizen-science/#:~:text=You%20don’t%20have%20to,in%20our%20solar%20system’s%20backyard.