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Billed as part contest, part festival, part educational event and part scientific enterprise, the BioBlitz is a 24 hour count of everything that grows, creeps, crawls, hops, flies or slithers – of all life! All ages are invited to join field experts to survey life at 5 beautiful locations on the Sunshine Coast.
This year's 6th annual BioBlitz hosted by the Iris Griffith Centre will include family fun activities at the base camp in Madeira Park, a BBQ (free for kids under 12), live music, and 'BioBlitz' night life: owl calling, bat netting, wildlife night hike, campfire stories and more. There will be a pancake breakfast and early Bird Walk Sunday morning followed by Marsh Monsters pond dipping and guided nature reserve hikes.
The BioBlitz field locations are:
Iris Griffith Centre
Saturday May 18th from 10 am - 5 pm:
* BioBlitz HQ: get your survey forms, clipboards, location maps and super cool BioBlitz t-shirts
* Get your kids activities passport for fun and educational activities including: marine touch tanks, habitat bean bag toss, scavenger hunt, face-painting and more
* Species Identification Station
* Information & Education booths
Saturday, May 18th from 5 - 10 pm:
* BBQ dinner & live music from Corduroy Road
* Campfire and story telling
* Wild Night-Life activities: wildlife night hike, owl calling, moth-trapping, bat mist-netting
Sunday, May 19th from 7 am to 12 noon:
* Early Bird Walk at 7 am
* Pancake breakfast at 8 am
* Guided hikes of wetland & nature reserve
* 10 am - 12 pm: Marsh Monsters pond-dipping!
* Final BioBlitz 2013 species tally at 12 pm
Field Location: "Urban" Madeira Park
Saturday 12 - 4 pm.
What life will we find in the heart of Madeira Park? Meet at the Base Camp info desk at 12 noon to go on a tour with our BioBlitz volunteer naturalists and see what life we can discover amongst the Homo sapiens!
Field Location: Tyner Biodiversity Park and Lily Lake
2 field locations in one!
Saturday, 12 - 4 pm. Activities here will include pond dipping for invertebrates, amphibian and reptile searches, wetland and forest plant sampling. Boats, kayaks, and life jackets will be available for those who wish to take a paddle out for a closer look around the lake.
Follow the signs to the BioBlitz Field team info station & grab your survey forms specimen collection containers!
Field Location: Francis Point Park
Saturday 12 pm to 4 pm.
Join our BioBlitz volunteer naturalists to count species in this spectacular 81-hectare Park featuring a rugged coastline of coves, windswept pines, mossy headlands, and veteran Douglas firs. Bring your gumboots for shoreline and intertidal explorations!
Park at the end of Merrill Rd and look for the BioBlitz info station to get your survey forms and meet up with the BioBlitz field guide team.
Field Location: Sechelt Botanical Garden Site
5941 Mason Road, Sechelt
Saturday 12 pm to 4 pm
Join Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden staff, volunteers and members as they BioBlitz on their beautiful 16-hectare Botanical Garden site.
Follow the signs to the information table at the Sparling Pavilion, pick up your BioBlitz survey sheet, and get counting!
Naturalists will be on hand to assist.
If you’re a keen nature lover and can help identify species (from trees, plants & mosses to aquatic invertebrates, insects and marine life) and would love to share your knowledge with the public, consider joining the team of volunteer guides at the field survey locations, or to help ID specimens at Base Camp throughout the day on Saturday. The group is also looking for general event volunteers who can help make the day a spectacular & fun experience for all.
If interested, please contact Nadi at the Iris Griffith Centre: 604.883.9201 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..