BioBlitz!

The 24-hour Central Park BioBlitz begins this afternoon at 3pm. An effort to collect as much information on biological diversity in the park as possible, the CPBB is sponsored by the the Central Park Conservancy and The Macaulay Honors College at CUNY. The event is using the iNaturalist app to track discoveries. There will be a hashtag on Twitter to follow things there: #CentralParkBioBlitz.

On the strength of having found five species of snail in my backyard, the Back 40 (inches), your fearless blogger have been asked to help with the gastropoda crew (“Slime Trackers,” “Shellheads,” “Mad Malacologists”?) led by Biology Professor (Emeritus) David Franz.

You can find all my snail posts here. Come on, don’t be a wuss, click on it. Snails get no respect, but they are vital part of the food web and decomposition cycles of the planet. Also, admit it, you wouldn’t mind firing love darts.

Now, to whet your appetite, the other day I was in the muck of one of Brooklyn Bridge Park’s ponds, which were sorely tested by Sandy. I looked down. Snails? Snails. Now where the hell did they come from?

(OK, having recently been in those deep Tube stations in London, down down down, I have to say that the Blitz analogy should not be taken in vain. Carry on, and mind the slugs.)