Bioblitz Reflection

            Earlier this month, my classmates and I went on a bit of an adventure to Staten Island; well, it was adventure for everyone else. For me I was just visiting home, being as I live in Staten Island. I have never visited Fresh Kills Park though, so it was definitely a new experience for me. Can’t honestly say that I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was an interesting experience.

Upon arriving at the ferry and seeing others from Macaulay, immediately I felt the mood of “why are we forced to go to Staten Island.” Personally, I don’t understand the negative connotation of Staten Island. Other than the fact that we used to be the dump for all of New York City, it is a far more peaceful environment to be in than the rest of the city. Nowhere in Manhattan can you find the type of nature and serenity than you find in Staten Island. Anyways, it was a particularly hot day; I had the Sunday afternoon slot so we were outdoors during the peak of the heat. We got off the ferry, waited in line to sign some forms and got on the bus.

Once we arrived at the park we were each put into a different group. I got placed in the ants group. Did not know what that meant at first but I went with it. Essentially, my group spent several hours sucking ants through a straw. The leader of our group was a cool guy. He was quite passionate about ants, which I was extremely surprised by. Never thought anyone could be so interested in something so small. He spent a year in some distant country (possibly Bangladesh I do not remember for sure) studying new species of plants for his research project, and he even discovered a few new species. He knew how to distinguish different species of ants simply by looking at them. I did not share his passion for ants but I definitely respected it.

For three hours, we searched shady areas that were coated in 10-year-old beer bottles, old rusty metals and various trashes in search of ants. The entire time I was terrified that a tic might bite me and I would not notice it, but luckily I came out bite-free (or maybe I didn’t and I haven’t noticed the bite yet). We collected the ants, and stored them in tubes filled with alcohol. Later on, we took these ants and observed them under a microscope. We were able to identify which species of ants we were looking at, which was pretty cool. At the end, they served us sandwiches and snacks, which made the whole thing feel pretty rewarding.

I personally was not a huge fan of bioblitz; initially I thought it would have been a much more active event than just sucking ants through a straw. I imagined learning of how the park was being restored, or of some cool environmental facts about New York City. But no, we collected and observed ants instead. It was interesting in a sense that I learned that there is a large diversity of species of ants in Staten Island, but it was not something that I could not have learned online. I expected learning more about the land that used to be a dump than just some ant species that currently occupy the land. During my childhood, every time my family and I drove past the park, my parents would say something like “you see that? That used to be the dump,” and I suppose it was pretty interesting to walk on top of what used to be the dump, but it could have been much more interesting. The park is still being developed and will become New York City’s largest park in roughly 20 years, so hopefully one day the park will have more to offer.