First off, Bioblitz was a lot more fun than I anticipated. I befriended some good people from other schools and went back on the bus to see my friends from Brooklyn. I was in the fish group in session A. Unfortunately, we did not catch many fish. Our net came up empty more times than not. I don’t know if it was because of the time of day, because of the wedding right near the water, the proximity to the waterfall, or the depth of the water; but I did realize that we were dealing with a very sensitive environment. We caught five fish, four of which were tiny (darters and baby sunfish), and one young large-mouth bass, which was still small, but less so.

The way we retrieved the fish was fun, we walked into the water with waders, and tried cornering the fish between a net and the ground above water. The ground underwater was rocky and unstable and uncomfortable on my feet, but I’m glad I experienced it.

I was really hoping to see more in my group, but while walking to my group’s area, I noticed beautiful birds, trees, landscapes, small mammals, and more. On the way back I even saw a bat. I realized that the preservation of this world is so important. There are areas of the park that have been untouched by the botanical gardens for years, only installing pathways through them, and going through these areas was eye-opening to me. A single step into this place could disrupt a creature’s habitat, thus disrupting the whole ecosystem. It’s incredible.